Shloka 5
Lokapāla-samāgamaḥ—Arjuna Receives Astras from the World-Guardians
Book 3, Chapter 42
तथैवाशनयश्वैव चक्रयुक्तास्तुलागुडा: । वायुस्फोटा: सनिर्घाता महामेघस्वनास्तथा,उस रथमें तलवार, भयंकर शक्ति, उग्र गदा, दिव्य प्रभावशाली प्रास, अत्यन्त कान्तिमती विद्युत्ू, अशनि एवं चक्रयुक्त भारी वजनवाले प्रस्तरके गोले रखे हुए थे, जो चलाते समय हवामें सनसनाहट पैदा करते थे। तथा जिनसे वज्रगर्जन और महामेघोंकी गम्भीर ध्वनिके समान शब्द होते थे
tathaivāśanayaś caiva cakrayuktās tulāguḍāḥ | vāyusphoṭāḥ sanirghātā mahāmeghasvanās tathā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Likewise there were thunderbolt-like missiles and heavy, wheel-hurled stone balls and maces, which, when launched, tore through the air with a sharp whirring; and they struck with crashes like thunder and with a deep roar like that of great storm-clouds.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it conveys how the apparatus of war escalates terror and destruction. By comparing weapon-sounds to thunder and storm-clouds, it implicitly warns that violence overwhelms human measure and brings an atmosphere of dread.
Vaiśampāyana is describing formidable weapons—thunderbolt-like missiles and heavy wheel-propelled maces/stone balls—emphasizing their whirring flight and thunderous impact, as part of a larger scene portraying martial preparation or combat intensity.