Shloka 243
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
घोरश्नट्चटाशब्द: शस्त्राणां पततामभूत् । जैसे पर्वतपर रातके समय बाँसोंका जंगल जल रहा हो और उन बाँसोंका चटखनेका घोर शब्द सुनायी दे रहा हो, उसी प्रकार शस्त्रोंक आघात-प्रत्याघातसे घोर चटचट शब्द कानोंमें पड़ रहा था
sañjaya uvāca | ghoraś caṭacchabdaḥ śastrāṇāṃ patatām abhūt |
サンジャヤは言った。「武器が落ち、打ち合わされるたび、恐るべきパチパチという裂ける音が起こった。打撃と反撃の衝突から生まれる不吉な轟きであり、それは山の夜、竹林が燃えて竹がはぜるときに聞こえる戦慄の破裂音に似ていた。かくして戦場の暴虐は、目に映るだけでなく、感覚を揺さぶる音となっても現れ、殺戮が容赦なく激しさを増すことを告げていた。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the dehumanizing momentum of war: violence becomes an all-encompassing sensory reality, where even sound turns into a sign of escalating destruction. It implicitly cautions that when conflict intensifies, it overwhelms discernment and compassion, making ethical restraint (dharma) harder to sustain.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield at a moment of intense fighting: weapons are falling, colliding, and rebounding, producing a terrifying crackling noise. The simile (as in a bamboo grove burning at night) conveys the continuous, sharp, and frightening character of the sound.