Shloka 366
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
अवाकिरच्छरव्रातै: सर्वक्षत्रस्थ पश्यत: । राजन्! तब भारद्वाजनन्दन अभश्वत्थामाने सम्पूर्ण क्षत्रियोंके देखते-देखते महारथी सुरथको अपने बाणसमूहोंसे आच्छादित कर दिया
avākirac charavrātaiḥ sarvakṣatrastha paśyataḥ | rājan! tadā bhāradvājanandanaḥ aśvatthāmāne sampūrṇa-kṣatriyāṇāṃ dadṛśuṣāṃ mahārathī surathaṃ svabāṇasaṃghaiḥ ācchādayām āsa |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “O Hari, sa harap ng buong nagkakatipong hukbo ng mga mandirigmang kṣatriya, si Aśvatthāmā, anak ni Bhāradvāja, ay biglang nagpaulan ng sunod-sunod na mga palaso kay Suratha, at tinakpan nang lubos ang dakilang mandirigmang nakasakay sa karwahe. Ipinakikita ng tanawing ito na sa nag-aalab na galit ng digmaan, ang giting ay inilalantad sa madla bilang pagsubok sa tungkuling pandigma, habang lalo ring pinatitindi ang malagim na kabayarang pasan ng mga kṣatriya na nakasaksi at nakibahagi sa pagpatay.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of displaying valor and skill openly in battle—actions performed “before all” become a public measure of martial duty. At the same time, the spectacle of overwhelming force points to the epic’s ethical tension: duty-driven heroism can intensify collective suffering and the moral weight of war.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Aśvatthāmā, identified as Bhāradvāja’s descendant (son of Droṇa), unleashes a dense volley of arrows and completely covers the great chariot-warrior Suratha, with the entire warrior host watching.