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 |
سنجے نے کہا—اے راجن! تمام جمع شدہ کشتریوں کی نگاہوں کے سامنے اسی وقت بھاردواج نندن درونی اشوتھاما نے مہارتھی سورتھ پر تیروں کی بوچھاڑ کر دی اور اپنے تیر-گچھوں سے اسے پوری طرح ڈھانپ دیا۔
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.