Shloka 21
स पार्षतमभिद्रुत्य जिघांसुर्मुत्युमात्मन: । अवाकिरत् सहस्रेण तीक्ष्णानां कडुकपत्रिणाम्,तत्पश्चात् अपनी मृत्युस्वरूप धृष्टद्युम्नको मार डालनेकी इच्छासे वे उसपर टूट पड़े और कंकपत्रयुक्त सहस्रों तीखे बाणोंद्वारा उन्हें आच्छादित करने लगे
sa pārṣatam abhidrutya jighāṃsur mṛtyum ātmanaḥ | avākirat sahasreṇa tīkṣṇānāṃ kaṅkapatriṇām ||
Sañjaya said: Rushing straight at the son of Pṛṣata (Dhṛṣṭadyumna), intent on making him the very death of himself, he showered him with a thousand sharp arrows, feathered with heron-plumes, covering him on all sides. The scene underscores the war’s grim logic: personal vows and destined enmities drive combatants to seek decisive, even annihilating, blows rather than restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the Mahābhārata’s war ethic, personal enmity and perceived destiny can override restraint: a warrior seeks a decisive end, treating the opponent as ‘death’ itself. It invites reflection on how vows and hatred intensify violence and narrow moral choice in battle.
Sañjaya narrates a combat moment where a warrior charges at Dhṛṣṭadyumna (called Pārṣata) and overwhelms him by raining a thousand sharp, heron-feathered arrows, effectively covering him with missile fire.