Shloka 38

कर्णपर्व — चतुर्दशोऽध्यायः

Arjuna’s Suppression of the Saṃśaptakas; Kṛṣṇa’s Strategic Admonition; Battlefield Inventory

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यं छादयन्तौ सम शरवृष्ट्या महारथौ । शराम्बुधारौ समरे शस्त्रविद्युत्प्रकाशिनौ,वे दोनों महारथी धनुषरूपी विद्युतसे प्रकाशित होनेवाले मेघके समान हो बाणरूपी जल धारण करते थे और समरांगणमें बाण-वर्षा करके एक-दूसरेको ढके देते थे

Transliteration

anyonyam chādayantau samaśaravṛṣṭyā mahārathau | śarāmbudhārau samare śastravidyutprakāśinau ||

Translation

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்—அந்த இரு மகாரதரும் சமமான அம்புமழையால் ஒருவரை ஒருவர் மூடினர். போரில் அவர்கள் ஆயுதமின்னலால் ஒளிர்ந்து, அம்புநீரோட்டங்களைத் தாங்கிய மழைமேகங்களைப் போலத் தோன்றினர்।

Word by Word

अन्योन्यम्mutually, each other

छादयन्तौcovering, concealing

समम्equally, evenly

शरवृष्ट्याby a shower of arrows

महारथौthe two great chariot-warriors

शराम्बुधारौhaving streams of arrow-water (i.e., torrents of arrows)

समरेin battle

शस्त्रविद्युत्प्रकाशिनौshining with weapon-lightning

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

two mahārathas (the two opposing great warriors)

arrows (śara)

weapons (śastra)

clouds/rain-torrents (metaphor: śarāmbudhāra)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the intensity and symmetry of martial contest: when power meets power, the battlefield becomes a spectacle of skill and force. Ethically, it underscores how war magnifies human capability into destructive brilliance—inviting reflection on the cost of prowess when directed toward mutual harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes a duel between two elite chariot-warriors. Each releases such a dense and equal rain of arrows that they obscure one another, appearing like storm-clouds bearing torrents, flashing with the lightning-like gleam of their weapons.