Shloka 23
शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host
with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter
ततो<भ्यधावतां तूर्ण पाण्डवं रथिनां वरम् । अपने भाईको मारा गया देख कर्णके दो महारथी पुत्र सुषेण और सत्यसेन नाना प्रकारके बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ पाण्डुपुत्र नकुलपर तुरंत ही चढ़ आये ।। २२ *॥ जिघांसन्तौ यथा नागं व्याप्रौ राजन् महावने,राजन! जैसे विशाल वनमें दो व्याप्र किसी एक हाथीको मार डालनेकी इच्छासे उसकी ओर दौड़ें, उसी प्रकार तीखे स्वभाववाले वे दोनों भाई इन महारथी नकुलपर अपने बाणसमूहोंकी वर्षा करने लगे, मानो दो मेघ पानीकी धारावाहिक वृष्टि करते हों
tato 'bhyadhāvatāṃ tūrṇaṃ pāṇḍavaṃ rathināṃ varam | jighāṃsantau yathā nāgaṃ vyāghrau rājan mahāvane ||
Sañjaya said: Then, swiftly charging at Nakula—the Pāṇḍava who excelled among chariot-warriors—Karna’s two great chariot-fighter sons, Suṣeṇa and Satyasena, seeing their brother slain, rained down arrows of many kinds. O King, just as two tigers in a vast forest rush upon an elephant with the intent to kill, so those two fierce brothers poured volleys of arrows upon that mahāratha Nakula, like two clouds releasing continuous sheets of rain.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how personal grief and the desire for retaliation can harden the heart in war, converting loss into intensified aggression. It also reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical tension: kṣatriya duty to fight versus the moral cost of vengeance-driven violence.
After seeing their brother killed, Karna’s sons Suṣeṇa and Satyasena rush at Nakula and shower him with arrows. Sañjaya describes their attack with a vivid simile: like two tigers charging an elephant in a great forest, and like clouds pouring continuous rain.