Shloka 26

Devanagari script

ततः: शरसहस्राणि प्रेषयामास वै द्विज: । इषुसम्बाधमाकाशमकरोद्‌ दिश एव च,तब शत्रुसूदन द्रोणपुत्र विप्रवर अश्वत्थामाने अपने दिव्य धनुषपर प्रत्यंचा चढ़ाकर तथा यह भी देखकर कि मेरे रथमें सेवकोंने शीघ्र ही दूसरे उत्तम घोड़े लाकर जोत दिये हैं, सहस्रों बाण छोड़े तथा आकाश और दिशाओंको अपने बाणोंसे खचाखच भर दिया

Transliteration

tataḥ śarasahasrāṇi preṣayāmāsa vai dvijaḥ | iṣusambādham ākāśam akarod diśa eva ca ||

Translation

ಆಗ ಆ ದ್ವಿಜ-ಯೋಧನು ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಬಾಣಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಯೋಗಿಸಿದನು. ಬಾಣಗಳಿಂದ ಆಕಾಶವು ತುಂಬಿ, ದಿಕ್ಕುಗಳೂ ಸಹ ಅಡ್ಡಿಯಾದಂತಾಯಿತು.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

शर-सहस्राणिthousands of arrows

प्रेषयामासsent forth, discharged

वैindeed, surely

द्विजःthe twice-born (brahmin)

इषु-सम्बाधम्dense with arrows; a congestion of arrows

आकाशम्the sky

अकरोत्made, rendered

दिशःthe directions

एवalso; just; indeed

चand

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Aśvatthāman (implied by context as the dvija/droṇaputra)

arrows (śara, iṣu)

sky (ākāśa)

directions/quarters (diś)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war rapidly intensifies through displays of overwhelming force; ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between prowess and restraint—power can dominate the field, but it also drives conflict toward greater destructiveness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the ‘dvija’ (a brahmin warrior, contextually Aśvatthāman) releases thousands of arrows, so many that the sky and the directions appear crowded and blocked by them, signaling a fierce surge in the battle.