Shloka 18
पाण्डुनन्दन अर्जुन एक बार दुविधामें पड़कर चंचल हो गये थे, तथापि नरश्रेष्ठ संशप्तक वीरोंके वधका निश्चय करके उन्होंने उस दुविधाको मिथ्या कर दिया था ।। ततः शतसहस््राणि शराणां नतपर्वणाम् | असृजन्नर्जुने राजन् संशप्तकमहारथा:,राजन्! तदनन्तर संशप्तक महारथियोंने अर्जुनपर झुकी हुई गाँठवाले एक लाख बाणोंकी वर्षा की
tataḥ śatasahasrāṇi śarāṇāṃ nataparvaṇām | asṛjann arjune rājan saṃśaptaka-mahārathāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then, O King, the Saṃśaptaka warriors—mighty chariot-fighters—released upon Arjuna a hundred thousand arrows, their joints bent downward, in a relentless shower. Though Arjuna had earlier wavered in doubt, he had made that hesitation false by firmly resolving to destroy the Saṃśaptakas; now they answered his resolve with overwhelming force on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfastness in kṣatriya-dharma: even if doubt arises, one must return to clarity of purpose and act with disciplined resolve. It also shows how vows and fixed intentions (like those of the Saṃśaptakas) intensify the moral and strategic pressure of war.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Saṃśaptaka elite chariot-warriors unleash an enormous volley—‘a hundred thousand’ arrows—upon Arjuna, escalating the duel-like confrontation that centers on their sworn hostility toward him.