Shloka 47
युगान्ते सर्वभूतानि धूमकेतुरिवोत्थित: । जैसे प्रलयकालमें प्रकट हुई अग्नि सम्पूर्ण भूतोंको दग्ध कर देती है, उसी प्रकार अर्जुनने अपने अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंके तेजसे समस्त कौरव-सैनिकोंको जलाना आरम्भ किया ।। ४६ हे || तेन बाणसहस्रौघैर्गजाश्वरथयोधिन:
yugānte sarvabhūtāni dhūmaketur ivotthitaḥ | tena bāṇasahasraughair gajāśvarathayodhināḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “As at the end of an age, when a blazing comet-like fire rises and consumes all beings, so did Arjuna begin to scorch the entire Kaurava host with the fierce radiance of his weapons. Then, with torrents of thousands of arrows, he struck down the warriors fighting from elephants, horses, and chariots.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield violence within a dharmic and cosmic register: Arjuna’s force is likened to end-of-age destruction, emphasizing the overwhelming, impersonal power unleashed when warriors fulfill their kṣatriya role in a war understood as fated and consequential. The ethical tension is implicit—such power is terrifying, yet presented as operating within the narrative’s sense of duty and inevitability.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna’s onslaught: Arjuna’s weapons blaze like a doomsday fire, and he begins burning through the Kaurava ranks. He then showers the battlefield with massive volleys of arrows, striking warriors mounted on elephants, horses, and chariots.