Shloka 30
भीष्मरक्षण-उद्योगः, शिखण्डि-विवर्जनं, सर्वतोभद्र-व्यूहः
Protection of Bhīṣma, Exemption of Śikhaṇḍin, and the Sarvatobhadra Array
अस्त्राणां पात्यमानानां कवचेषु शरीरिणाम् | शब्द: समभवद् राजन् गिरीणामिव भिद्यताम्,राजन! देहधारियोंके कवचोंपर पड़नेवाले अस्त्रोंका ऐसा शब्द होता था, मानो पर्वत विदीर्ण हो रहे हों
astrāṇāṁ pātyamānānāṁ kavaceṣu śarīriṇām | śabdaḥ samabhavad rājan girīṇām iva bhidyatām ||
Sanjaya said: O King, as the weapons fell upon the armor of the embodied warriors, a tremendous clang arose—like the rending of mountains. The verse underscores the overwhelming, impersonal force of battle, where human bodies are reduced to ‘bearers of armor’ amid a soundscape of destruction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers no direct injunction but conveys an ethical-narrative insight: war magnifies destruction to a scale comparable to nature’s cataclysms, reducing individuals to ‘embodied beings’ amid impersonal forces—inviting reflection on the grave cost of conflict.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhritarashtra the intensity of the Kurukshetra battle: weapons striking warriors’ armor produce a deafening roar, likened to mountains cracking apart.