Shloka 15
Virāṭa Rescued from Suśarmā; Night Battle and Royal Gratitude (विराटमोक्षणं सुशर्मवधाभिमुखं च)
रथिनां रथिभिश्षात्र सम्प्रहारो5भ्यवर्तत,वहाँ रथियोंका रथियोंसे, घुड़सवारोंका घुड़सवारोंसे और पैदल योद्धाओंका पैदलोंसे घमासान युद्ध होने लगा। सब ओर रक्तकी धारा बह चली और उसमें सनकर धरतीकी धूल शान्त हो गयी
vaiśampāyana uvāca | rathināṃ rathibhiḥ śātra saṃprahāro 'bhyavartata |
Vaiśampāyana said: O king, a fierce melee arose—chariot-warriors clashed with chariot-warriors. The battle swelled into a close-quarters slaughter, where each class of fighter met its like, and blood flowed so abundantly that the dust of the earth was subdued and settled. The scene underscores how, once combat is joined, violence rapidly becomes self-propelling, overwhelming even the natural signs of the battlefield.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the momentum and moral gravity of war: once a melee begins, violence escalates beyond easy restraint, reminding the listener that kṣatriya conflict, though framed as duty, carries immense human cost and quickly overwhelms ordinary order.
The narrator describes the battle intensifying into a direct clash of chariot-warriors against chariot-warriors (and, by extension in the received Hindi gloss, horsemen against horsemen and foot-soldiers against foot-soldiers), with bloodshed so heavy that it dampens and settles the battlefield dust.