Shloka 10
रथाश्वमातड्रपदातिभिस्तत: परस्परं विप्रहतापतन् क्षितौ । यथा सविद्युत्स्तनिता बलाहका: समाहता दिग्भ्य इवोग्रमारुतै:
rathāśvamātadrapadātibhistataḥ parasparaṃ viprahatāpatann kṣitau | yathā savidyutstanitā balāhakāḥ samāhatā digbhya ivogramārutaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then the charioteers, horsemen, and foot-soldiers—striking one another in close combat—fell upon the earth. They crashed down like thunderclouds, flashing with lightning and roaring with thunder, driven together from all directions by fierce winds. The scene underscores how, when wrath and rivalry eclipse restraint, even the mighty are hurled down, and the battlefield becomes a testimony to the ruin that follows unchecked violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the catastrophic consequence of mutual aggression: when combatants abandon restraint and strike one another relentlessly, they are brought down indiscriminately. The cloud-and-wind simile suggests forces larger than individual will—momentum, rage, and the collective storm of war—sweeping all into ruin, inviting reflection on the ethical cost of violence.
Sañjaya describes a phase of intense melee where chariot-warriors, cavalry, and infantry clash at close quarters. After exchanging heavy blows, many fall to the ground, and their collapse is compared to thunderclouds driven together from all sides by fierce winds.