Shloka 44
Adhyāya 16: Saṃśaptaka-vrata and the Diversion of Arjuna (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६)
तां शरौघमहाफेनां प्रासमत्स्यसमाकुलाम् । नदीमुत्तीर्य वेगेन कुरून् विद्राव्य पाण्डव:
tāṃ śaraugha-mahāphenāṃ prāsa-matsya-samākulām | nadīm uttīrya vegena kurūn vidrāvya pāṇḍavaḥ ||
ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಬಾಣಗಳ ಮಹಾಫೇನದಿಂದ ಉಕ್ಕಿ, ಪ್ರಾಸಗಳು ಮತ್ಸ್ಯಗಳಂತೆ ತುಂಬಿದ್ದ ಆ ನದಿಯನ್ನು ವೇಗದಿಂದ ದಾಟಿ ಪಾಂಡವನು ಕೌರವರನ್ನು ಓಡಿಸಿ ಚದುರಿಸಿದನು.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a vivid metaphor—war as a weapon-filled river—to highlight steadfastness and daring in the face of overwhelming danger, while implicitly reminding the reader that such ‘crossings’ occur within the tragic moral pressure of fratricidal war, a central Mahābhārata concern about dharma under extreme circumstances.
Sañjaya reports that a Pāṇḍava warrior crosses a perilous ‘river’ described through battlefield imagery (arrows as a flood, spears as fish) and, moving with great speed, drives the Kaurava forces into retreat.