Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 12
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
कोपोद्धूतशरज्वालो धनु:शब्दानिलो महान्
kopoddhūtaśarajvālo dhanuḥśabdānilo mahān
कोपोद्धूतशरज्वालो धनुःशब्दानिलो महान् । समुत्पपात संक्रुद्धो दिशो दहन्निव प्रभोः ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger (kopa) transforms skill and weaponry into a destructive force: wrath becomes the impulse, arrows become flame, and the bow’s roar becomes a storm-wind—an ethical reminder that inner states can magnify harm in war.
Sañjaya describes the battle’s intensity through metaphor: the combatant’s anger drives a blazing volley of arrows, and the thunderous sound of the bow is likened to a great wind sweeping the field.
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