Shloka 9
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
जैसे उदित हुए सूर्य समस्त भुवनोंमें अपनी किरणोंका विस्तार करते हैं, उसी प्रकार भीमसेन उन हाथियोंपर बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए शोभा पा रहे थे ।। ते भीमबाणाभिहता: संस्यूता विबभुर्गजा: । गभस्तिभिरिवार्कस्य व्योम्नि नानाबलाहका:,वे भीमके बाणोंसे मारे जाकर परस्पर सटे हुए हाथी आकाशमें सूर्यकी किरणोंसे गुँथे हुए नाना प्रकारके मेघोंकी भाँति शोभा पा रहे थे
te bhīmabāṇābhihatāḥ saṃsyūtā vibabhur gajāḥ | gabhastibhir ivārkasya vyomni nānābalāhakāḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—भीमबाणाभिहताः संस्यूता विबभुर्गजाः। गभस्तिभिरिवार्कस्य व्योम्नि नानाबलाहकाः॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the paradox of righteous warfare: martial excellence can appear ‘splendid’ in poetic vision, yet that beauty is born from injury and death. It invites reflection on kṣatriya-dharma—courage and duty in battle—while not concealing the grim human (and animal) cost.
Sañjaya describes Bhīma showering arrows upon enemy elephants. The elephants, clustered together and pierced by arrows, are compared to clouds in the sky threaded with sunlight—an image that conveys both the density of the elephant formation and the striking visual effect amid the battlefield.