Shloka 40
अध्याय ५८ — वानरध्वजस्य महेन्द्रास्त्रप्रयोगः
Chapter 58: Arjuna’s Deployment of the Indra-Weapon
जिनकी मन-बुद्धि अमेय है, उन द्रोणने अपने विचित्र धनुषसे छूटे हुए सुवर्णमय पंखोंवाले बाणोंद्वारा सम्पूर्ण दिशाओं तथा सूर्यके प्रकाशको भी ढक दिया ।। ततः कनकपुड्खानां शराणां नतपर्वणाम् | वियच्चराणां वियति दृश्यन्ते बहवो व्रजा:,उस समय सोनेकी पाँख और झुकी हुई गाँठवाले आकाशचारी बाणोंके बहुत-से समुदाय आकाशमें दृष्टिगोचर हो रहे थे
tataḥ kanakapucchānāṃ śarāṇāṃ nataparvaṇām | viyaccarāṇāṃ viyati dṛśyante bahavo vrajāḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Droṇa, whose mind and judgment were beyond measure, loosed from his wondrous bow arrows with golden fletching, veiling all the directions and even the sun’s light. Then in the sky appeared many dense flights of air-borne arrows—gold-feathered, with bent joints—so numerous that they seemed to cover the open space itself.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the awe-inspiring power of disciplined martial skill and the intensity of battle; ethically, it points to the grave weight of kṣatriya action—prowess can dominate the world of perception, so it must be governed by dharma and restraint.
A combatant’s archery produces countless arrows with golden fletching; these flights of arrows fill the sky and become clearly visible as dense clusters, suggesting that the battlefield is being overwhelmed by a storm of missiles.