Shloka 47
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
युगान्ते सर्वभूतानि धूमकेतुरिवोत्थित: । जैसे प्रलयकालमें प्रकट हुई अग्नि सम्पूर्ण भूतोंको दग्ध कर देती है, उसी प्रकार अर्जुनने अपने अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंके तेजसे समस्त कौरव-सैनिकोंको जलाना आरम्भ किया ।। ४६ हे || तेन बाणसहस्रौघैर्गजाश्वरथयोधिन:
yugānte sarvabhūtāni dhūmaketur ivotthitaḥ | tena bāṇasahasraughair gajāśvarathayodhināḥ ||
युगान्ते सर्वभूतानि धूमकेतुरिवोत्थितः। अर्जुनः शस्त्रतेजसा कौरवानीकं ददाह। ततः स बाणसहस्रौघैर्गजाश्वरथयोधिनः प्राहरत्।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield violence within a dharmic and cosmic register: Arjuna’s force is likened to end-of-age destruction, emphasizing the overwhelming, impersonal power unleashed when warriors fulfill their kṣatriya role in a war understood as fated and consequential. The ethical tension is implicit—such power is terrifying, yet presented as operating within the narrative’s sense of duty and inevitability.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna’s onslaught: Arjuna’s weapons blaze like a doomsday fire, and he begins burning through the Kaurava ranks. He then showers the battlefield with massive volleys of arrows, striking warriors mounted on elephants, horses, and chariots.