Shloka 19
व्यक्त किष्कुपरीणाहं द्वादशारत्निकार्मुकम् । रथाक्षमात्रैरिषुभि: सर्वा: प्रच्छादयन् दिश:
vyakta-kiṣku-parīṇāhaṁ dvādaśa-ratnikārmukam | rathākṣa-mātrair iṣubhiḥ sarvāḥ pracchādayan diśaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “With a bow of manifest, thick girth—measuring twelve ratnis in length—he showered arrows as long as a chariot’s axle, veiling all the directions. In that moment the battlefield’s moral horizon narrowed: sheer martial force, displayed without restraint, made every quarter seem covered and inescapable.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how overwhelming force can dominate perception and space—“covering the directions”—suggesting that in war, displays of power can eclipse discernment and compress moral choice, even when the narrator remains a witness rather than a judge.
Sañjaya describes a warrior unleashing a tremendous volley: a massive bow (twelve ratnis long) and arrows compared in length to a chariot’s axle, so dense that they seem to blanket all quarters of the battlefield.