Shloka 16
Adhyāya 18 — Sequential Duels and Formation Pressure
Ulūka–Yuyutsu; Śakuni–Sutasoma; Kṛpa–Dhṛṣṭadyumna; Kṛtavarmā–Śikhaṇḍin
अनेकैश्न शिलाधौतैर्वज्ञाशनिविषोपमै: । शरैर्निजध्निवान् पार्थों महेन्द्र इव दानवान्,जैसे देवराज इन्द्र दानवोंका संहार करते हैं, उसी प्रकार कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनने शिलापर तेज किये हुए वज्र, अशनि तथा विषके तुल्य अनेक भयंकर बाणोंद्वारा उन संशप्तक वीरोंका वध कर डाला
anekaiś ca śilādhautair vajrāśaniviṣopamaiḥ | śaraiḥ nijaghnivān pārtho mahendra iva dānavān ||
संजय म्हणाला—त्यानंतर पार्थ (अर्जुन) याने शिळेवर धार लावलेल्या वज्र, अशनी व विषासारख्या घातक अनेक बाणांनी त्या वीरांचा संहार केला; जसा देवेंद्र महेंद्र दानवांचा नाश करतो तसा।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ideal of kṣatriya prowess exercised as battlefield duty: Arjuna’s force is depicted as Indra-like—overwhelming and decisive—yet framed as action within the ordained role of a warrior in a dharmic conflict, not as gratuitous violence.
Sañjaya narrates that Arjuna (Pārtha) kills opposing fighters using many stone-honed arrows, whose deadliness is compared to Indra’s thunderbolt, lightning, and poison; the simile presents Arjuna as a near-divine destroyer of foes, like Indra against the Dānavas.