Shloka 44
Adhyāya 16: Saṃśaptaka-vrata and the Diversion of Arjuna (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६)
तां शरौघमहाफेनां प्रासमत्स्यसमाकुलाम् । नदीमुत्तीर्य वेगेन कुरून् विद्राव्य पाण्डव:
tāṃ śaraugha-mahāphenāṃ prāsa-matsya-samākulām | nadīm uttīrya vegena kurūn vidrāvya pāṇḍavaḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Franchissant ce fleuve—dont l’écume en furie n’était qu’un torrent de flèches et dont les eaux fourmillaient de lances comme de poissons—le Pāṇḍava, d’un élan rapide, mit les Kaurava en déroute. L’image rappelle que, dans la guerre, courage et résolution peuvent « passer à gué » même un déluge d’armes apparemment infranchissable, tandis que le poids moral de la violence demeure, selon l’épopée, au cœur du dharma sous la contrainte.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a vivid metaphor—war as a weapon-filled river—to highlight steadfastness and daring in the face of overwhelming danger, while implicitly reminding the reader that such ‘crossings’ occur within the tragic moral pressure of fratricidal war, a central Mahābhārata concern about dharma under extreme circumstances.
Sañjaya reports that a Pāṇḍava warrior crosses a perilous ‘river’ described through battlefield imagery (arrows as a flood, spears as fish) and, moving with great speed, drives the Kaurava forces into retreat.