Shloka 36
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Sañjaya-saṃvādaḥ; madhyāhna-saṅgrāma-pravṛttiḥ
Dhritarashtra–Sanjaya dialogue and the midday battle escalation
आविषध्य व्यसृजत् तूर्ण ज्वलन्तमिव पन्नगम् | तमापतन्तं सहसा कालानलसमप्रभम्
sañjaya uvāca | āviṣadhya vyasṛjat tūrṇaṁ jvalantam iva pannagam | tam āpatantaṁ sahasā kālānalasamaprabhām, rājan |
सञ्जय उवाच—आविध्य स तं तूर्णं व्यसृजत्, ज्वलन्तमिव पन्नगम्। राजन्, तमापतन्तं सहसा कालानलसमप्रभं द्रौणिर्युद्धे पाणिलाघवं दर्शयन् क्षणेन चिच्छेद। ततः परं बहुभिरायसैः शरैः शिखण्डिनं भृशं विव्याध।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic where skill (hastalāghava) and swift response are celebrated, yet it also implicitly shows how war magnifies destruction—Time (Kāla) imagery frames violence as overwhelming and inexorable.
A weapon—described as blazing like a serpent and as radiant as the apocalyptic fire—rushes toward Aśvatthāmā. He swiftly cuts it down in combat and then wounds Śikhaṇḍin with many iron arrows.