Mahabharata 9.14.3 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 14, Shloka 3
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
तब अर्जुनने समरभूमिमें तीन बाणोंसे अश्वत्थामाको और दो-दो बाणोंसे अन्य महाधनुर्धरोंको बींध डाला ।। भूयश्वचैव महाराज शरवर्षैरवाकिरत् | शरकण्टकितास्ते तु तावका भरतर्षभ
bhūyaś caiva mahārāja śaravarṣair avākirat | śara-kaṇṭakitās te tu tāvakā bharatarṣabha ||
サンジャヤは言った。「そしてまた、大王よ、彼は矢の奔流をもって彼らを覆い尽くした。汝の兵は、バーラタ族の雄牛よ、矢を棘のごとく身に林立させ、貫かれて揺らいでいた。戦の狂熱の中では、武勇と決意が人を容赦なき暴力へと駆り立てるが、その破壊の道義的重みもまた、なお積み重なってゆくことが示される。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the relentless momentum of war: martial excellence can become a force of unchecked escalation. It implicitly invites reflection on kṣatriya duty versus the accumulating ethical cost of widespread harm.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the opposing warrior again unleashes a dense volley of arrows, leaving the Kaurava fighters ‘bristling’ with shafts—an image of their being overwhelmed on the battlefield.
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