Shloka 9
अमर्षवेगप्रभवां क्रव्यादगणसंकुलाम् । बलौघै: सर्वतः पूर्णा ध्वजवृक्षापहारिणीम्,उस नदीका प्राकट्य क्रोधके आवेगसे हुआ था। मांसभक्षी जन्तुओंसे वह घिरी हुई थी। सेनारूपी प्रवाहद्वारा वह सब ओरसे परिपूर्ण थी और ध्वजरूपी वृक्षोंको तोड़-फोड़कर बहा रही थी
amarṣavega-prabhavāṁ kravyāda-gaṇa-saṅkulām | balaughaiḥ sarvataḥ pūrṇā dhvaja-vṛkṣāpahāriṇīm ||
Sañjaya said: “Its sudden appearance was born from a surge of intolerant wrath. It was crowded with packs of flesh-eating creatures. Filled on every side by torrents of armies, it swept onward, tearing down and carrying away the banner-like ‘trees’ (the standards) in its flood.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a river-flood metaphor to show how anger (amarṣa) and its violent surge (vega) can generate a destructive momentum that sweeps away order and symbols of identity (dhvajas). Ethically, it warns that wrath in war multiplies harm, drawing in predatory forces and turning disciplined armies into an indiscriminate flood.
Sañjaya depicts the battlefield as a terrifying river that has ‘arisen’ from a rush of anger. It is filled with masses of troops like a flood-current, surrounded by flesh-eating creatures, and it tears down and carries away the banner-standards, likened to trees, emphasizing the chaos and ferocity of the fighting.