Shloka 19
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 45: Saubhadra–Lakṣmaṇa-saṃyoga and Kaurava Counter-Encirclement
सुवर्णपुड्खैरिषुभिननानालिड्लैः सुतेजनै: । अदृश्यमार्जुनिं चक्रु्निमेषात् ते नृूपात्मजा:,उन राजकुमारोंने सोनेके पंखवाले नाना प्रकारके चिह्लोंसे सुशोभित और पैने बाणोंद्वारा अर्जुनकुमार अभिमन्युको पलक मारते-मारते अदृश्य कर दिया
suvarṇapuḍkhair iṣubhir nānāliṅgaiḥ sutejanaiḥ | adṛśyam ārjunim cakrur nimeṣāt te nṛpātmajāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: With sharp, brilliantly swift arrows—fitted with golden fletchings and marked with many distinctive signs—the princes, in the space of a single blink, made Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son, vanish from sight amid the press of battle. The verse underscores how concentrated, collective violence can overwhelm even a heroic warrior, raising the ethical tension between valor in war and the peril of many attacking one.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how coordinated force in war can eclipse individual prowess, sharpening the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension: martial skill and courage exist alongside the moral danger of many assailing one, where victory may come at the cost of fairness and dharmic restraint.
Sañjaya narrates that the princes shower Abhimanyu with sharp, golden-fletched, distinctly marked arrows so densely that, within a blink, he can no longer be seen—suggesting he is engulfed by missiles and the chaos of the battlefield.