Shloka 22
सेनासमागमः — The Convergence of Armies
उपाजगाम कौरव्यमक्षौहिण्या विशाम्पते । तस्य सेनासमावाय: शलभानामिवाबभौ
upājagāma kauravyam akṣauhiṇyā viśāmpate | tasya senāsamāvāyaḥ śalabhānām ivābabhau ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: O lord of the people, an entire akṣauhiṇī host advanced toward the Kauravas. The mustering of his troops looked like a swarm of locusts—vast, dense, and ominous—foretelling the mounting surge of war and the moral weight of choices soon to be tested on the battlefield.
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how quickly collective force can swell into an overwhelming presence; the locust-swarm simile hints at the destructive potential of unchecked ambition and the ethical urgency of restraining conflict before it becomes irreversible.
A full akṣauhiṇī contingent moves toward the Kaurava, and the narrator describes the assembled troops as resembling a dense swarm of locusts, emphasizing the scale and foreboding atmosphere of impending war.