Shloka 26
ततः: शरा: प्रापतन् रुक्मपुड्खा: शक््त्यृष्टिप्रासमुसलान्यायुधानि । परश्वधास्तैलधौताश्न खड््गा: प्रदीप्ताग्रास्तोमरा: पट्टिशाश्ष,फिर उससे सोनेके पंखवाले बाण गिरने लगे। शक्ति, ऋष्टि, प्रास, मुसल आदि आयुध, फरसे, तेलमें साफ किये गये खड्ग, चमचमाती हुई धारवाले तोमर, पट्टिश, तेजस्वी परिघ, लोहेसे बँधी हुई विचित्र गदा, तीखी धारवाले शूल, सोनेके पत्रसे मढ़ी गयी भारी गदाएँ और शतघ्नियाँ चारों ओर प्रकट होने लगीं
tataḥ śarāḥ prāpatan rukmapuṅkhāḥ śaktyṛṣṭiprāsamusalāny āyudhāni | paraśvadhās tailadhautāś ca khaḍgāḥ pradīptāgrās tomarāḥ paṭṭiśāś ca ||
Sañjaya said: Then there rained down arrows with golden fletching. Weapons of every kind appeared and flew about—spears and lances, javelins and clubs; axes; swords polished bright with oil; and tomaras and paṭṭiśas with blazing points. The scene swelled into a storm of arms, showing how the warriors’ wrath had turned the battlefield into a whirl of lethal instruments, where courage and duty were tested amid uncontrolled violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the terrifying momentum of war: once unleashed, violence multiplies through countless instruments, and the warrior’s dharma is tested amid chaos. It implicitly warns that martial prowess and duty operate within a moral landscape where the cost of conflict becomes vividly tangible.
Sañjaya describes an intense phase of battle in which golden-fletched arrows and many kinds of weapons—spears, lances, clubs, axes, and polished swords—are seen falling and flashing on all sides, conveying a battlefield overwhelmed by volleys of arms.