Shloka 2
शल्य–युधिष्ठिरयुद्धप्रारम्भः
Commencement of the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Duel
संजय कहते हैं--महाराज! एक ओर दुर्योधन तथा द्रुपदकुमार धृष्टद्युम्न महान् युद्ध कर रहे थे। वह युद्ध बाणों और शक्तियोंके प्रहारसे व्याप्त हो रहा था ।। तयोरासन् महाराज शरधारा: सहस्रश: । अम्बुदानां यथा काले जलधारा: समन्ततः,राजाधिराज! जैसे वर्षाकालमें सब ओर मेघोंकी जलधाराएँ बरसती हैं, उसी प्रकार उन दोनोंकी ओरसे बाणोंकी सहस्रों धाराएँ गिर रही थीं
sañjaya uvāca—mahārāja! ekato duryodhanaś ca drupadakumāro dhṛṣṭadyumnaś ca mahān yuddham akurvatām. tad yuddhaṃ bāṇaśaktiprahārair vyāptaṃ babhūva. tayor āsan mahārāja śaradhārāḥ sahasraśaḥ, ambudānāṃ yathā kāle jaladhārāḥ samantataḥ.
Sañjaya said: O King, on one side Duryodhana and on the other Drupada’s son Dhṛṣṭadyumna fought a mighty battle. That combat was filled with the blows of arrows and spears. From both of them, O Mahārāja, thousands of streams of arrows poured forth on every side—like the sheets of rain that fall from clouds in the rainy season.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overwhelming momentum of war and the kṣatriya arena where prowess is displayed through relentless weaponry; ethically, it underscores how conflict rapidly becomes all-consuming, spreading like a season of rain—suggesting the inevitability and scale of consequences once battle is fully joined.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana and Dhṛṣṭadyumna are locked in a fierce duel, with showers of arrows and spear-strikes filling the battlefield; the arrow-flights are compared to rain-streams pouring from monsoon clouds on all sides.