Shloka 84

Devanagari script

ततस्तमेकं बहव: परिवार्य समन्तत: । परिकाल्य कुरून्‌ सर्वान्‌ शरवर्षरवाकिरन्‌,तदनन्तर एकमात्र भीष्मको पाण्डव-पक्षीय बहुत-से योद्धाओंने चारों ओरसे घेर लिया और समस्त कौरवोंको सब ओर खदेड़कर उनके ऊपर बाणोंकी वर्षा आरम्भ कर दी

Transliteration

tatas tam ekaṁ bahavaḥ parivārya samantataḥ | parikālya kurūn sarvān śaravarṣa-ravākiran ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Then many warriors surrounded that lone hero on every side. Driving back all the Kurus in every direction, they began to shower him with a roaring rain of arrows—an image of how, in war, even a single formidable fighter becomes the focus of collective resistance when the balance of the field is threatened.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

तम्him

एकम्alone, single

बहवःmany

परिवार्यhaving surrounded

समन्ततःon all sides

परिकाल्यhaving driven off / having harried

कुरून्the Kurus

सर्वान्all

शरवर्षरवाकिरन्they showered/scattered (with) the sound of a rain of arrows

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kurus (Kauravas)

arrows (śara)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a battlefield ethic of coordinated action: when a single powerful warrior endangers the larger force, many unite to contain him. It reflects kṣatriya-dharma in practice—courage and strategy—while also hinting at the moral tension of war, where necessity can justify overwhelming force against an individual.

What is happening in the narrative?

After a turn in the fighting, many warriors close in around a lone fighter, encircling him from all sides. They push back the Kurus across the field and unleash a loud, continuous barrage of arrows, intensifying the pressure and shifting momentum.