Shloka 22
सेनासमागमः — The Convergence of Armies
उपाजगाम कौरव्यमक्षौहिण्या विशाम्पते । तस्य सेनासमावाय: शलभानामिवाबभौ
upājagāma kauravyam akṣauhiṇyā viśāmpate | tasya senāsamāvāyaḥ śalabhānām ivābabhau ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。「おお、民の主よ。アクシャウヒニー（akṣauhiṇī）一隊まるごとの大軍が、クル族（カウラヴァ）へと進み寄った。その軍勢の集結は、まるで蝗の大群のごとく—広大にして密集し、不吉—戦のうねりが増してゆくこと、そしてまもなく戦場で試される選択のダルマの重みを告げていた。」
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how quickly collective force can swell into an overwhelming presence; the locust-swarm simile hints at the destructive potential of unchecked ambition and the ethical urgency of restraining conflict before it becomes irreversible.
A full akṣauhiṇī contingent moves toward the Kaurava, and the narrator describes the assembled troops as resembling a dense swarm of locusts, emphasizing the scale and foreboding atmosphere of impending war.