Shloka 23
संधाय च शरं दीप्तमभिमन्त्रय स पाण्डव: पर्जन्यास्त्रेण संयोज्य सर्वलोकस्य पश्यत:
sandhāya ca śaraṃ dīptam abhimantrya sa pāṇḍavaḥ parjanyāstreṇa saṃyojya sarvalokasya paśyataḥ
Sañjaya dit : Le Pāṇḍava ajusta une flèche flamboyante, l’investit par des mantras, puis l’unit à l’arme de Parjanya ; et il le fit sous les yeux de tous, devant le monde qui regardait — geste qui manifeste à la fois la maîtrise guerrière et la lourde responsabilité d’invoquer des forces cosmiques au cœur de la guerre.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that extraordinary power in war—especially mantra-invoked astras—must be exercised with awareness and accountability, since such acts affect not only opponents but the wider world that witnesses and bears the consequences.
Sañjaya reports that a Pāṇḍava warrior prepares a blazing arrow, sanctifies it with mantra, and then deploys it as the Parjanya-astra (a rain/thunder-related divine weapon), doing so openly before all onlookers.