Shloka 343
Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 58 — Arjuna’s Arrow-Storm and Relief of Bhīmasena
आच्छादयद् दिशो राजन धृष्टद्युम्नस्य संयुगे । इससे अभश्वत्थामाका क्रोध बहुत बढ़ गया। राजन्! उसने झुकी हुई गाँठवाले बाणोंसे युद्धस्थलमें धृष्टद्युम्नकी सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंको आच्छादित कर दिया
sañjaya uvāca | ācchādayad diśo rājan dhṛṣṭadyumnasya saṃyuge | asya aśvatthāmakaḥ krodhaḥ bahu vardhata | rājan sa namra-granthi-bāṇaiḥ yuddha-sthale dhṛṣṭadyumnasya sarvā diśaḥ samantād ācchādayām āsa |
Sanjaya said: O King, in the thick of battle he covered all the directions around Dhrishtadyumna. Seeing this, Ashvatthama’s wrath swelled greatly. O Rajan, on the battlefield he blanketed every quarter with his arrows—those shafts with bent, knotted joints—so that Dhrishtadyumna found himself hemmed in on all sides. The scene underscores how anger, once unleashed in war, seeks not merely victory but overwhelming domination.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how krodha (wrath) in war tends to expand beyond measured duty into a drive to overwhelm and suffocate the opponent. It implicitly warns that anger, even when arising from grievance, can eclipse restraint and distort righteous conduct.
Sanjaya describes Ashvatthama, his anger rising, unleashing a dense volley of arrows that ‘covers the directions’ around Dhrishtadyumna—an image of encirclement and battlefield pressure, as if the very quarters are filled with shafts.