Shloka 27
आततेष्वसना: शूरा नृत्यन्त इव भारत | भरतनन्दन! जैसे शिकारी लुआठोंसे हाथीको मारते हैं, उसी प्रकार अपने धनुषको ताने हुए उन शूर-वीरोंने नाचते हुए-से वहाँ अर्जुनको बाणोंद्वारा व्यथित कर डाला ।। अपस्व्यांस्तु तांश्षक्रे रथेन मधुसूदन:
sañjaya uvāca | ātatēṣv asanāḥ śūrā nṛtyanta iva bhārata | bharatanandana! yathā śikārī luāṭhaiḥ hastinaṃ mārayanti, tathā sva-dhanuḥ ātatya taiḥ śūra-vīraiḥ nṛtyadbhir iva tatra arjunaḥ bāṇaiḥ vyathitaḥ || apasavyāṃs tu tāñ śakre rathena madhusūdanaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O Bhārata, those valiant warriors, with their bows fully drawn, moved as if in a dance. O joy of the Bharatas, just as hunters strike down an elephant with their weapons, so did those heroic fighters—seeming to dance in the fray—torment Arjuna there with volleys of arrows. Then Madhusūdana, driving the chariot, turned those foes to the left (counter-clockwise), bringing them under control by his maneuver.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how disciplined skill and coordinated action can overwhelm even a great warrior, while also implying the ethical weight of warfare: prowess must be guided by right strategy and steadiness (here, Kṛṣṇa’s charioteering) rather than mere ferocity.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna being intensely assailed by enemy heroes who shoot with bows fully drawn, moving with dance-like agility. In response, Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana) maneuvers the chariot—turning the opponents to the left/counter-clockwise—so Arjuna can regain tactical advantage.