Shloka 22
सेनासमागमः — The Convergence of Armies
उपाजगाम कौरव्यमक्षौहिण्या विशाम्पते । तस्य सेनासमावाय: शलभानामिवाबभौ
upājagāma kauravyam akṣauhiṇyā viśāmpate | tasya senāsamāvāyaḥ śalabhānām ivābabhau ||
वैशम्पायन बोले—हे प्रजापते! एक अक्षौहिणी सेना कौरवों की ओर बढ़ चली। उसकी सेना का समवाय टिड्डियों के दल-सा प्रतीत हुआ—घना, विशाल और भयावह।
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.