Shloka 293
शरै: प्रच्छाद्य निधनमनयत् परमास्त्रवित् “वे उत्तम अस्त्रोंके ज्ञाता तो थे ही, उन्होंने पाण्डवपक्षके चेदि, काशी, पांचाल, करूष, मत्स्य और केकयदेशीय योद्धाओंको अपने बाणोंसे आच्छादित करके मौतके मुखमें डाल दिया
śaraiḥ pracchādya nidhanam anayāt paramāstravit
Sañjaya berkata: “Sang mahir senjata tertinggi itu menghujani mereka dengan anak panah, menutupi mereka dan menghalau mereka ke pintu maut. Demikianlah dia menewaskan para pejuang pihak Pāṇḍava dari Cedi, Kāśī, Pāñcāla, Karūṣa, Matsya dan Kekaya dengan panah-panahnya.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary skill in warfare (astra-vidyā) can rapidly become a force of mass destruction; it implicitly raises an ethical tension central to the Mahābhārata—power and expertise require restraint and right intention, otherwise they accelerate adharma’s human cost.
Sañjaya reports that a supreme weapon-master overwhelms the Pāṇḍava-aligned contingents—Cedi, Kāśī, Pāñcāla, Karūṣa, Matsya, and Kekaya—by blanketing them with arrows and sending many to their deaths.