Shloka 13
Adhyāya 108 — Nimitta-darśana and Drona’s counsel amid Arjuna’s advance (निमित्तदर्शनं द्रोणोपदेशश्च)
खुरशब्दश्न सुमहान् वाजिनां शुश्रुवे तदा । महावंशवनस्येव दहयुमानस्य पर्वते
sañjaya uvāca | khuraśabdaḥ sumahān vājīnām śuśruve tadā | mahāvaṃśavanasyeva dahyamānasya parvate ||
Sañjaya nói: Khi ấy, tiếng vó ngựa vang dội cực lớn được nghe khắp bốn phía—như tiếng nổ răng rắc khi một rừng tre mênh mông bốc cháy trên sườn núi, nứt toác và vỡ ra trong lửa.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it conveys how war amplifies fear and inevitability through sensory imagery. Ethically, it underscores the grave, consuming nature of battle—like fire in a bamboo forest—reminding the listener that violence, once unleashed, spreads with a force beyond individual control.
Sañjaya narrates the battlefield as the armies move; the thunder of horses’ hooves rises everywhere. He compares that sound to the sharp cracking of bamboo exploding while a huge bamboo-grove burns on a mountainside, intensifying the scene’s urgency and dread.