Shloka 203
कुरव: पर्यवर्तन्त निर्दग्धा: सव्यसाचिना । जैसे विशाल वनमें दावानलसे डरे हुए मृगोंके समूह इधर-उधर भागते हैं, उसी प्रकार सव्यसाची अर्जुनके बाणरूपी अग्निसे चलते हुए कौरव-सैनिक चारों ओर चक्कर काट रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca |
kuravāḥ paryavartanta nirdagdhāḥ savyasācinā |
yathā viśāle vane dāvānalena bhītā mṛgagaṇāḥ itastataḥ dhāvanti, tathā savyasācy-arjuna-bāṇāgni-pradīptāḥ kuravaḥ sainikāḥ sarvataḥ paribhramantaḥ cakraṃ cakruḥ ||
Sanjaya said: The Kuru warriors, scorched by Savyasācin (Arjuna), wheeled about in confusion. Just as herds of deer, terrified by a forest-fire in a vast woodland, scatter and run in every direction, so the Kaurava soldiers—driven by the fire of Arjuna’s arrow-shafts—were forced to circle and reel on all sides. The image underscores how fear and disorder overtake an army when violence is unleashed with overwhelming skill, turning disciplined ranks into panicked flight.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how overwhelming force and skill can dissolve collective discipline into fear-driven confusion. Ethically, it warns that when violence escalates beyond an opponent’s capacity to respond, the battlefield becomes governed by panic rather than reason—showing the harsh consequences that follow from entering and sustaining adharma-driven conflict.
Sanjaya describes the Kaurava troops being driven into disarray by Arjuna’s intense arrow-fire. They whirl and scatter like deer fleeing a forest blaze, indicating that Arjuna’s assault is so fierce that the Kaurava formations cannot hold their ground and instead move chaotically in all directions.