Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 20
अध्याय २२ — अमर्याद-युद्धवर्णन
Unrestrained Battle Description and Śakuni’s Rear Assault
भीमसेन रणे क्रुद्धो द्रोणपुत्रो न्यवारयत्
sañjaya uvāca |
bhīmasenaḥ raṇe kruddho droṇaputraḥ nyavārayat |
mahārāja! raṇakṣetre kupito droṇaputra aśvatthāmā samantato diśāsu kṣiptaiḥ nānāvidhaiḥ bāṇaiḥ bhīmasenaṃ prāgabhimukhaṃ gantum avārayat |
tasmin samaye saṅgrāme na vīrāṇāṃ parijñānaṃ āsīt na diśāṃ ca, avāntara-diśāṃ (koṇānāṃ) tu kuta eva ||
Sañjaya said: O King, in the battle Bhimasena, inflamed with wrath, was checked. On the field, Drona’s son Ashvatthama—angered—held Bhima back from advancing by releasing many kinds of arrows, shot in every direction. At that moment in the tumult of war, neither the warriors could be clearly recognized nor the directions discerned—how much less the intermediate quarters.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and practical peril of uncontrolled wrath and the fog of war: in violent turmoil, clarity of perception collapses—identity and direction become uncertain—so actions taken in anger can easily become indiscriminate and ethically hazardous.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Bhima, charging forward in anger, is halted by Ashvatthama, who showers him with many kinds of arrows from all sides. The fighting is so confused that neither warriors nor directions can be properly distinguished.