Shloka 40
धृतराष्ट्र-संजय-संवादः — दुर्योधनस्य ह्रदप्रवेशः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Saṃjaya Dialogue: Duryodhana’s Entry into the Lake
ततः शक्ति महाघोरां कालरात्रिमिवोद्यताम्
tataḥ śaktiṃ mahāghorāṃ kālarātrim ivodyatām
Sañjaya said: Then he raised a terribly fearsome spear, like Kālarātri herself lifted up—an image of impending doom that underscores how the war’s violence turns weapons into embodiments of death and moral peril.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the simile of Kālarātri to show how, in war, human action can resemble the impersonal force of death—warning that violence, once unleashed, carries a dreadful moral weight and an atmosphere of inevitable destruction.
Sañjaya describes a combatant (implied from context) brandishing a spear, portraying it as so terrifying that it seems like Kālarātri herself has been raised, signaling an imminent lethal strike.