Shloka 31
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 25 — Bhīma’s Disruption of Elephant Formations and Bhagadatta’s Shock Advance
प्रवपन्निव बीजानि बीजकाले नरर्षभ । द्रौणायनिद्रौपदेयं शरवर्षैरवाकिरत्,नरश्रेष्ठ! तब द्रोणपुत्र भी द्रौपदीकुमार प्रतिविन्ध्यपर बाणोंकी वर्षा करने लगा, मानो किसान बीज बोनेके समयपर खेतमें बीज डाल रहा हो
pravapann iva bījāni bījakāle nararṣabha | drauṇāyanidraupadeyaṁ śaravarṣair avākirat ||
Sañjaya said: “O bull among men, just as seeds are scattered at sowing time, so did the son of Droṇa shower Draupadī’s son with a rain of arrows.” The simile underscores the mechanical, relentless nature of battlefield violence—skill and intent applied to harm with the same regularity as a farmer’s act, raising an ethical tension between disciplined action and its destructive end in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a farming simile to portray how methodical and unhesitating martial skill becomes in war. It invites reflection on kṣatriya-duty performed with discipline, yet directed toward destruction—highlighting the ethical strain between righteous role-based action and the suffering it produces.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāman (Droṇa’s son) unleashes a dense barrage of arrows upon a son of Draupadī (identified here as Prativindhya), likening the arrow-shower to a farmer scattering seeds at sowing time.