Shloka 643
अध्याय ६० — कर्णस्य पाञ्चाल-सोमक-निग्रहः
Karna’s Suppression of the Panchala–Somaka Forces
छादयामास समरे गजान् निघ्नन् वृकोदर: । जैसे इन्द्र वज्रके द्वारा असुरोंका संहार करते हैं
chādayāmāsa samare gajān nighnan vṛkodaraḥ | yathā indro vajrakeṇa asurān saṁharati tathā bhīmaseno hastibhir eva hastinaḥ jaghāna | tataḥ hastisaṁhāraṁ kurvan bhīmasenaḥ samara-bhūmau sva-bāṇa-saṁghaiḥ sarvam ākāśaṁ tathā chādayāmāsa yathā śalabha-gaṇaiḥ vṛkṣā ācchādyante |
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, Vṛkodara (Bhīma) struck down elephants and seemed to veil the field with them. As Indra, wielding the thunderbolt, destroys the Asuras, so Bhīmasena slew elephants by means of elephants themselves. Then, continuing the slaughter of the elephant corps, Bhīma covered the entire sky over the battlefield with volleys of his arrows—just as trees are hidden from view when swarms of locusts settle upon them.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the epic ideal of kṣatriya prowess expressed through overwhelming martial force, while also implicitly reminding the listener—through stark similes of mass destruction—of the grave moral weight carried by war and the catastrophic scale that adharma-driven conflict can unleash.
Sañjaya describes Bhīma in the Karṇa Parva battle: he is killing enemy elephants, even using elephants against elephants, and then unleashes such dense arrow-volleys that the sky over the battlefield appears covered—likened to trees hidden by swarms of locusts.