Shloka 18
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
अनयन् परलोकाय शरै: संनतपर्वभि: । शरैश्न विविधैघोरैस्तत्र तत्र विशाम्पते
anayan paralokāya śaraiḥ sannatapārva-bhiḥ | śaraiś ca vividhair ghorais tatra tatra viśāmpate ||
Sañjaya said: With arrows whose joints were well-tempered and firm, and with many kinds of dreadful shafts, they were sending men to the next world—striking them here and there across the field, O lord of men. The verse underscores the grim moral weight of battle: skill and weaponry become instruments of death, and the battlefield turns into a place where lives are abruptly severed and destiny is forced forward.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of warfare: martial prowess and refined weaponry can swiftly become means of taking life, reminding the listener that battle inevitably entails death and the forced passage of beings toward the afterlife—an implicit call to reflect on responsibility and dharma even amid sanctioned war.
Sañjaya describes intense fighting in which warriors are struck down by many kinds of fearsome arrows. The imagery emphasizes widespread, relentless casualties across the battlefield—men falling in different places as the combatants rain arrows.