Shloka 42
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
स तस्य ह्ृदयं भित्त्वा प्रविवेशातिवेगित: । शक्राशनिरिवोत्सृष्टो विदार्य धरणीतलम्
sa tasya hṛdayaṃ bhittvā praviveśātivegitaḥ | śakrāśanir ivotsṛṣṭo vidārya dharaṇītalam |
स तस्य हृदयं भित्त्वा प्रविवेशातिवेगितः। शक्राशनिरिवोत्सृष्टो विदार्य धरणीतलम्॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inexorable force of actions set in motion in war: once a deadly act is released, its consequences strike with near-unstoppable momentum. Ethically, it serves as a stark reminder of the gravity of violence and the irreversible outcomes of martial choices.
Sañjaya describes a swift, powerful arrow (nārāca) that pierces a warrior’s heart and enters his body, comparing its force to Indra’s thunderbolt that rends the earth and sinks into it—emphasizing the lethal intensity of the battlefield.