Shloka 736
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
आकाशगानपश्याम पतड्जनिव शीघ्रगान् । वृष्णिवंशके उन दोनों सिंहोंके धनुषद्वारा बलपूर्वक चलाये हुए शीघ्रगामी बाणोंको हमने टिड्डीदलोंके समान आकाशमें व्याप्त हुआ देखा था
sañjaya uvāca | ākāśe tān apaśyāma pataṅgān iva śīghragān | vṛṣṇivaṃśake tau siṃhau dhanurbhyāṃ balāt kṣiptān śīghragamān iṣūn pataṅgasaṅghān iva vyāptān ākāśe ||
Sañjaya said: We saw in the sky those swift-flying arrows—forcefully loosed from the bows of the two lion-like heroes of the Vṛṣṇi line—spreading everywhere like swarms of locusts.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a vivid simile—arrows filling the sky like locust swarms—to highlight how unchecked martial fury can rapidly become all-consuming, suggesting the ethical danger of violence that overwhelms discernment and restraint.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield scene: two lion-like heroes of the Vṛṣṇi line shoot volleys of swift arrows with great force, and the missiles appear to spread across the sky in dense swarms.