Shloka 9
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
अशक्यं मनसाप्यन्यै: पाण्डव: सम्भ्रमन्निव | नाशयामास विक्रम्य शरैंदिव्यास्त्रमन्त्रिते:,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 | aśakyaṃ manasāpy anyaiḥ pāṇḍavaḥ sambhramann iva | nāśayāmāsa vikramya śaraiḥ divyāstramantritaiḥ, pralīnamīnamakaraṃ sāgarāmbha iva abhavat |
Sañjaya said: O King, the Pāṇḍava (Arjuna), as though moving in swift, urgent resolve, advanced with prowess and destroyed the enemy with arrows empowered by the mantras of divine weapons—something inconceivable even in thought for others. Your army then became like the waters of the ocean at dissolution, where fish and crocodiles vanish into hiding: shaken, overwhelmed, and driven into fearful confusion by the irresistible force of his celestial assault.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how disciplined prowess, when joined to higher knowledge (mantra-empowered astras), becomes overwhelming—prompting reflection on the ethical weight of power in war and the kṣatriya duty to act decisively while recognizing the terror and consequences such force creates.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna advances and devastates the opposing forces with arrows charged by divine-weapon mantras; the Kaurava army is thrown into panic, likened to an ocean in cosmic upheaval where sea-creatures hide.