Shloka 176
अलातोल्काशनिप्रख्यास्तव सैन्यं विनिर्दहन् । गाण्डीव धनुषसे छूटे हुए प्राण लेनेवाले नाना प्रकारके बाण जो अलात, उल्का और बिजलीके समान प्रकाशित हो रहे थे, आपकी सेनाको दग्ध करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | alātolkāśaniprakhyās tava sainyaṃ vinirdahan | gāṇḍīva-dhanuṣaś chūṭāḥ prāṇa-lenevalā nānā-prakārakā bāṇāḥ alāta-ulkā-vidyut-samāḥ prakāśamānāḥ tava senāṃ dagdhum ārabdhāḥ |
Sañjaya said: Arrows released from the bow Gāṇḍīva—gleaming like blazing firebrands, meteors, and lightning—began to scorch your army. Varied in form and deadly in intent, they seemed to seize away life itself, turning the battlefield into a spectacle of irresistible force and the grim moral weight of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying efficiency of martial power and the ethical gravity of battle: even when war is framed as duty, its reality is the taking of life and the burning away of armies. It invites reflection on dharma in conflict—how righteous intent does not erase the suffering produced by weapons.
Sanjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how arrows shot from the famed bow Gāṇḍīva blaze like firebrands, meteors, and lightning, and begin to scorch and devastate the Kaurava forces, emphasizing the overwhelming momentum of the attack.