Shloka 40
सार्केन्दुग्रहनक्षत्रां द्यां कुर्युस्ते महीतले । उत्सहेरंश्व ये हन्तुं भूतग्रामं चतुर्विधम्,वे सूर्य, चन्द्रमा, ग्रह और नक्षत्रोंसहित सम्पूर्ण आकाश-मण्डलको पृथ्वीपर गिरा सकते थे और चार प्रकारके समस्त प्राणिसमुदायका संहार करनेमें समर्थ थे
sārkendugrahanakṣatrāṃ dyāṃ kuryus te mahītale | utsaheram̐ś ca ye hantuṃ bhūtagrāmaṃ caturvidham ||
Sañjaya said: They were so mighty that they could have brought down the entire vault of heaven—together with the sun, the moon, the planets, and the constellations—onto the earth. They were also capable of annihilating the whole community of living beings in its fourfold classes. The verse heightens the moral tension of the episode: such overwhelming power, when turned loose in the aftermath of war, threatens not only enemies but the very order of life itself.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical danger of unrestrained power: when warriors possess world-shaking capacity, the question of dharma becomes urgent, because violence can spill beyond legitimate targets and threaten the entire order of life.
Sañjaya is describing the extraordinary might of the fighters being discussed in this section of the Sauptika Parva, using hyperbolic cosmic imagery—able to pull down the sky with its luminaries and to destroy all beings—to convey the scale of their destructive potential.