Shloka 413
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
किरतां शरवर्षाणि स नाग: पर्यवर्तत । बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए भयंकर धनुर्धर रथियोंका मण्डल उस हाथीपर सब ओरसे आक्रमण कर रहा था और वह हाथी चारों ओर चक्कर काट रहा था
kiratāṁ śaravarṣāṇi sa nāgaḥ paryavartata |
Sañjaya dit : Tandis que pleuvaient les traits, cet éléphant ne cessait de tourner sur lui-même. Un cercle redoutable de guerriers en chars, l’arc à la main, l’assaillait de toutes parts sans relâche—image de l’encerclement inexorable de la guerre et de la force écrasante d’une violence concertée.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war amplifies coordinated aggression: when many act together, even a powerful being is driven into frantic motion. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty in battle and the stark suffering produced by relentless, collective violence.
Sañjaya describes an elephant under intense missile-fire. Chariot-warriors form a surrounding circle and attack from all directions, while the elephant keeps turning and circling, trying to respond or escape amid the arrow-rain.