Shloka 13
Adhyāya 108 — Nimitta-darśana and Drona’s counsel amid Arjuna’s advance (निमित्तदर्शनं द्रोणोपदेशश्च)
खुरशब्दश्न सुमहान् वाजिनां शुश्रुवे तदा । महावंशवनस्येव दहयुमानस्य पर्वते,उस समय घोड़ोंकी टापोंका महान् शब्द सब ओर उसी प्रकार सुनायी देने लगा, मानो पर्ववपर जलते हुए बड़े-बड़े बाँसोंके जंगलमें उनके पोरोंके फटनेका शब्द हो रहा हो
sañjaya uvāca | khuraśabdaḥ sumahān vājīnām śuśruve tadā | mahāvaṃśavanasyeva dahyamānasya parvate ||
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ കുതിരകളുടെ കുളമ്പുകളുടെ അതിമഹത്തായ നാദം എല്ലാടവും കേട്ടു; മലഞ്ചരിവിൽ കത്തുന്ന മഹത്തായ മുളക്കാടു പൊട്ടി പിളരുമ്പോൾ ഉയരുന്ന ഘോരധ്വനിപോലെ।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it conveys how war amplifies fear and inevitability through sensory imagery. Ethically, it underscores the grave, consuming nature of battle—like fire in a bamboo forest—reminding the listener that violence, once unleashed, spreads with a force beyond individual control.
Sañjaya narrates the battlefield as the armies move; the thunder of horses’ hooves rises everywhere. He compares that sound to the sharp cracking of bamboo exploding while a huge bamboo-grove burns on a mountainside, intensifying the scene’s urgency and dread.