Shloka 22
सेनासमागमः — The Convergence of Armies
उपाजगाम कौरव्यमक्षौहिण्या विशाम्पते । तस्य सेनासमावाय: शलभानामिवाबभौ
upājagāma kauravyam akṣauhiṇyā viśāmpate | tasya senāsamāvāyaḥ śalabhānām ivābabhau ||
વૈશંપાયન બોલ્યા—હે પ્રજાપતે! એક અક્ષૌહિણી સેના કૌરવો તરફ આગળ વધી. તેની સેનાનો સમવાય ટીડીઓના ઝુંડ જેવો દેખાયો—ઘન, વિશાળ અને ભયજનક।
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how quickly collective force can swell into an overwhelming presence; the locust-swarm simile hints at the destructive potential of unchecked ambition and the ethical urgency of restraining conflict before it becomes irreversible.
A full akṣauhiṇī contingent moves toward the Kaurava, and the narrator describes the assembled troops as resembling a dense swarm of locusts, emphasizing the scale and foreboding atmosphere of impending war.