Shloka 37
Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 20 — Yudhiṣṭhira–Duryodhana Encounter and Escalation of Arms
पत्तिभिश्न समाप्लुत्य द्विरदा: स्यन्दनास्तथा
pattibhiś ca samāplutya dviradāḥ syandanās tathā
Sañjaya said: The battlefield was flooded with foot-soldiers; elephants and chariots too surged in, pressing forward together—an image of war’s overwhelming momentum where massed forces, rather than individual virtue, begin to dominate the scene.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war quickly becomes an engulfing force: once masses of infantry, elephants, and chariots surge together, the conflict turns into a flood of violence where restraint and discernment are hard to maintain—implicitly warning how collective momentum can eclipse ethical clarity.
Sañjaya describes the battle’s press: infantry overrun the field, and elephants and chariots also advance in a dense surge, conveying the scale and intensity of the fighting in Karṇa Parva.