Shloka 1
अपन का छा अकाल षट्चत्वारिशर्दाधेकशततमो< ध्याय: अर्जुनका अदभुत पराक्रम और सिन्धुराज जयद्रथका वध संजय उवाच श्रुत्वा निनादं धनुषश्च तस्य विस्पष्टमुत्क़ुष्टमिवान्तकस्य । शक्राशनिस्फोटसमं सुघोरं विकृष्यमाणस्य धनंजयेन,प्रलीनमीनमकरं सागराम्भ इवाभवत् | संजय कहते हैं--राजन्! उस समय अर्जुनके द्वारा खींचे जानेवाले गाण्डीव धनुषकी अत्यन्त भयंकर टंकार यमराजकी सुस्पष्ट गर्जना तथा इन्द्रके वज्रकी गड़गड़ाहटके समान जान पड़ती थी। उसे सुनकर आपकी सेना भयसे उद्विग्न हो बड़ी घबराहटमें पड़ गयी। उस समय उसकी दशा प्रलयकालकी आँधीसे क्षोभको प्राप्त एवं उत्ताल तरंगोंसे परिपूर्ण हुए उस महासागरके जलकी-सी हो गयी, जिसमें मछली और मगर आदि जलजन्तु छिप जाते हैं
sañjaya uvāca | śrutvā ninādaṃ dhanuṣaś ca tasya vispaṣṭam utkruṣṭam ivāntakasya | śakrāśani-sphoṭa-samaṃ sughoraṃ vikṛṣyamāṇasya dhanaṃjayena, pralīna-mīna-makaraṃ sāgarāmbha iva abhavat |
Sanjaya said: O King, when Arjuna drew the Gāṇḍīva, the bow’s twang rang out—clear and terrifying—like the loud roar of Death himself, and like the thunderclap of Indra’s thunderbolt. Hearing it, your army became shaken with fear and fell into confusion, like the ocean at the time of dissolution, churned by a tempest and heaving with towering waves, in which fish and crocodiles vanish from sight.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how righteous resolve and extraordinary skill can decisively affect a conflict not only through physical force but also through moral and psychological impact: Arjuna’s focused action shakes the enemy’s confidence, reminding that fear and collapse often precede defeat.
Sanjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the terrifying sound produced as Arjuna draws his bow. The sound is compared to Death’s roar and Indra’s thunderbolt, and it causes the Kaurava forces to panic, likened to an ocean in cosmic dissolution where creatures hide amid violent waves.