Shloka 9
शैनेयचरितम्
The Exploits of Śaineya/Sātyaki amid Encirclement
नानाशस्त्रपुरोवातो द्विपाश्वरथसंवृतः । गदाविद्युन्महारौद्र: संग्रामजलदो महान्,उस समय महान् सैन्यदलसे संयुक्त एवं हाथी, घोड़े और रथोंसे भरा हुआ वह संग्राम महान् मेघके समान जान पड़ता था। नाना प्रकारके शस्त्र पूर्ववात (पुरवैया)-के तुल्य चल रहे थे। गदाएँ विद्युतके समान प्रकाशित होती थीं। देखनेमें वह संग्राम-मेघ बड़ा भयंकर जान पड़ता था। द्रोणाचार्य वायुके समान उसे संचालित कर रहे थे तथा उससे बाणरूपी जलकी सहसोौरों धाराएँ गिर रही थीं और इस प्रकार वह अग्निके समान उठी हुई पाण्डव- सेनापर सब ओरसे वर्षा कर रहा था
nānaśastrapurovāto dvipāśvarathasaṁvṛtaḥ | gadāvidyunmahāraudraḥ saṅgrāmajalado mahān |
Sañjaya said: The battlefield appeared like a vast storm-cloud of war—packed with elephants, horses, and chariots. Countless weapons swept forward like an easterly gale, and maces flashed like lightning. Terrible to behold, that war-cloud, driven on by Droṇācārya as by the wind, poured down torrents of arrow-rain on the Pāṇḍava host from every side, blazing in its violence like fire.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers no direct moral injunction; its ethical force lies in portraying how war, under a powerful commander, becomes an impersonal, storm-like mechanism—suggesting the overwhelming, dehumanizing momentum of violence and the grave responsibility borne by leaders who ‘drive’ it.
Sañjaya describes the battle as a gigantic war-cloud: troops of elephants, horses, and chariots form its mass; weapons move like a strong east wind; maces flash like lightning; and, under Droṇa’s direction, torrents of arrows fall upon the Pāṇḍava forces on all sides.