Shloka 44

Adhyāya 16: Saṃśaptaka-vrata and the Diversion of Arjuna (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६)

Devanagari script

तां शरौघमहाफेनां प्रासमत्स्यसमाकुलाम्‌ । नदीमुत्तीर्य वेगेन कुरून्‌ विद्राव्य पाण्डव:

Transliteration

tāṃ śaraugha-mahāphenāṃ prāsa-matsya-samākulām | nadīm uttīrya vegena kurūn vidrāvya pāṇḍavaḥ ||

Translation

ସଞ୍ଜୟ କହିଲେ—ବାଣର ଭୟଙ୍କର ଫେନରେ ଉଛଳୁଥିବା ଏବଂ ପ୍ରାସମାନେ ମତ୍ସ୍ୟ ପରି ଭରିଥିବା ସେଇ ନଦୀକୁ ବେଗରେ ପାରି ହୋଇ ପାଣ୍ଡବ କୌରବମାନଙ୍କୁ ଭଗାଇଦେଲେ।

Word by Word

ताम्that (her/it)

शरौघमहाफेनाम्having great foam of a flood of arrows

प्रासमत्स्यसमाकुलाम्teeming with javelins as fishes

नदीम्river

उत्तीर्यhaving crossed / having forded

वेगेनwith speed/impetus

कुरून्the Kurus

विद्राव्यhaving put to flight / having routed

पाण्डवःthe Pandava (Arjuna)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍava (a Pandava warrior)

Kurūn (Kauravas/Kurus)

nadī (river)

śara (arrows)

prāsa (spears)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a vivid metaphor—war as a weapon-filled river—to highlight steadfastness and daring in the face of overwhelming danger, while implicitly reminding the reader that such ‘crossings’ occur within the tragic moral pressure of fratricidal war, a central Mahābhārata concern about dharma under extreme circumstances.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a Pāṇḍava warrior crosses a perilous ‘river’ described through battlefield imagery (arrows as a flood, spears as fish) and, moving with great speed, drives the Kaurava forces into retreat.