Shloka 59
शल्यपरिघातः (Śalya Under Encirclement) — Mahābhārata, Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 12
शल्य: सायकवर्षेण पर्जन्य इव वृष्टिमान्
śalyaḥ sāyakavarṣeṇa parjanya iva vṛṣṭimān
Sañjaya dit : Śalya, déversant une pluie de flèches, semblait Parjanya, le nuage porteur de pluie, en pleine averse—image qui souligne comment, dans la fureur du combat, la prouesse guerrière peut ressembler à la force écrasante et impartiale de la nature.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the violence and intensity of war can be portrayed through natural metaphors: a warrior’s arrow-storm becomes like rain. Ethically, it suggests the battlefield’s momentum can feel as inexorable as nature—prompting reflection on the human cost when skill is directed toward destruction.
Sañjaya describes Śalya in combat, releasing such a dense barrage of arrows that it resembles a heavy rainfall, likening him to Parjanya, the rain-bringer.