Shloka 48
द्रोणेन केकय-चेदि-वीरवधः
Droṇa’s engagements with the Kekayas and Cedis
तत्रान्तरिक्षे बाणानां प्रगाढानां विशाम्पते | संघर्षण महार्चिष्मानू पावक: समजायत,प्रजानाथ! वहाँ अन्तरिक्षमें ठसाठस भरे हुए बाणोंकी रगड़से भारी लपटोंसे युक्त आग प्रकट हो गयी
tatrāntarikṣe bāṇānāṃ pragāḍhānāṃ viśāṃpate | saṃgharṣaṇamahārcīṣmān pāvakaḥ samajāyata prajānātha ||
Wahai penguasa rakyat, di angkasa anak-anak panah begitu rapat hingga dari gesekan satu sama lain timbul api, menyala dengan lidah-lidah nyala yang besar.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the destructive escalation of war: when hostility becomes relentless, it generates consequences that feel elemental and uncontrollable. Ethically, it hints that violence, once unleashed beyond restraint, spreads suffering and disorder far beyond the immediate combatants.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield intensity: arrows fill the air so densely that their collisions and friction seem to produce a blazing fire in the sky. It is vivid war-poetry that also functions like an omen-like image of the battle’s ferocity.