Shloka 4
भीष्मस्य मण्डलव्यूहः — Bhīṣma’s Maṇḍala Battle-Formation and the Opening Engagements
क्षिपतश्न परांस्तस्य रणे शत्रून् विनिघ्नतः । ददृशे रूपमत्यर्थ मेघस्येव प्रवर्षत:,जब वे धनुषको खींचते, दूसरे-दूसरे बाण छोड़ते, फिर नये-नये बाण हाथमें लेते, धनुषपर रखते, उन्हें शत्रुओंपर चलाते और उनका संहार करते थे, उस समय वर्षा करनेवाले मेघके समान उनका स्वरूप अत्यन्त अद्भुत दिखायी देता था
kṣipataś ca parāṁs tasya raṇe śatrūn vinighnataḥ | dadṛśe rūpam atyarthaṁ meghasyeva pravarṣataḥ ||
तो धनुष्य ताणून दूरवर पोहोचणारे बाण झडप घालीत रणांगणात शत्रूंचा संहार करीत असता, त्यांचे रूप पर्जन्यधारांनी बरसणाऱ्या मेघासारखे अत्यंत अद्भुत दिसत होते।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily offers a poetic battlefield simile: disciplined martial skill can appear like a natural force—overwhelming and continuous. Ethically, it highlights how war turns human agency into a relentless mechanism of harm, inviting reflection on the awe and terror such power evokes.
Sañjaya describes a warrior in combat rapidly shooting successive arrows, taking new arrows, placing them on the bow, and killing enemies; his appearance is compared to a cloud pouring rain because the arrows fall in an unbroken, abundant stream.