Shloka 456
Book 9 (Śalya-parva), Adhyāya 13 — Arjuna’s Arrow-storm and the Drauṇi Confrontation
विस्मयं परमं जम्मुर्देवगन्धर्वदानवा: । बलवान मद्रराजके द्वारा शीघ्रतापूर्वक की जानेवाली उस बाण-वर्षसि पाण्डवोंके उस सैन्यसमुद्रको विचलित होते देख देवता, गन्धर्व और दानव अत्यन्त आश्चर्यमें पड़ गये
sañjaya uvāca | vismayaṃ paramaṃ jagmur devagandharvadānavāḥ | balavān madrarājena dvārā śīghratāpūrvakaṃ kṛtena tasmin bāṇa-varṣe pāṇḍavānāṃ taṃ sainya-samudraṃ vicalitaṃ dṛṣṭvā devā gandharvāś ca dānavāś cātyantaṃ āścaryeṇa samapadyanta |
सञ्जय उवाच—देवगन्धर्वदानवाः परमं विस्मयं जग्मुः। बलवान् मद्रराजः शल्यः शीघ्रं बाणवर्षं मुमोच, तेन पाण्डवानां सैन्यसमुद्रो विचलित इवाभवत्।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how concentrated martial force can destabilize even a vast army, reminding readers that power and speed in war create sudden reversals; it also frames the battle as morally weighty, witnessed by higher beings, where violence—often propelled by adharma—can rapidly erode order.
Sañjaya reports that Śalya, the king of Madra, releases a swift, intense rain of arrows that shakes the Pāṇḍava forces; observing this, gods, Gandharvas, and Dānavas react with extreme astonishment at the disruption of the Pāṇḍava ‘army-ocean’.