Shloka 58
शल्यपर्व — चतुर्विंशोऽध्यायः | Śalya Parva, Chapter 24: Disruption of Kaurava Formations and the Elephant Encirclement
नरान् नागान् समाहत्य हयांश्वापि विशाम्पते । अपतन्त रणे बाणा: पतड़ा इव घोषिण:,प्रजानाथ! इन्द्रके वज़्की भाँति कठोर स्पर्शवाले बाण गाण्डीवसे प्रेरित हो मनुष्यों, घोड़ों और हाथियोंका भी संहार करके शब्द करनेवाले टिड्डीदलोंके समान रणभूमिमें गिर पड़ते थे
narān nāgān samāhatya hayāṁś cāpi viśāṁpate | apatanta raṇe bāṇāḥ pataṅgā iva ghoṣiṇaḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Wahai tuan rakyat sekalian! Setelah menumbangkan manusia, gajah-gajah besar—dan juga kuda—anak-anak panah itu pun gugur ke medan perang, bising berdesing seperti kawanan belalang. Dilepaskan dari Gāṇḍīva, ia meluncur turun dengan hentaman keras laksana vajra Indra, menzahirkan gerak perang yang tidak mengenal belas—di mana kemahiran dan senjata membawa kebinasaan yang segera.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the terrifying impersonality of war: when martial skill and powerful weapons are unleashed, destruction spreads rapidly and widely, overwhelming individuals like a swarm. Ethically, it highlights the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty in battle and the human cost that such duty entails.
Sañjaya describes a fierce phase of combat in which volleys of arrows, shot from the famed bow Gāṇḍīva, strike down warriors, horses, and elephants. The arrows are depicted as falling in great numbers and making a loud, swarming sound, intensifying the scene’s violence and scale.