Shloka 11
भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः
Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas
रथाग्न्यगारक्षापार्चिरसिशक्तिगदेन्धन:
rathāgnyagārakṣāpārcirasiśaktigadendhanaḥ
Sañjaya menggambarkan pertempuran sebagai kebakaran besar yang marak menyala: kereta perang ialah apinya, zirah pelindung ialah rumah api, nyalaannya ialah sinar, pedang dan lembing ialah lidah-lidah api, dan gada ialah bahan bakarnya—melukiskan ngeri moral serta sifat perang yang melahap, menelan nyawa dan kebajikan sekaligus.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses an extended metaphor of fire to show how war becomes a self-feeding force: weapons and defenses turn into the very elements that sustain destruction, warning that violence rapidly escalates and consumes what it touches, even when framed as duty.
Sañjaya, narrating to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, depicts the battlefield’s intensity by likening the combat to a raging fire whose components are chariots, armor, flames, and weapons—conveying the scale and terror of the Kurukṣetra fighting.