Chapter 89: Bhīma dispatched to protect Ghaṭotkaca amid escalating engagements
तथैव शरजालानि भीष्मेणास्तानि मारिष | आकाशे समदृश्यन्त खगमानां व्रजा इव,आर्य! इसी प्रकार भीष्मके चलाये हुए बाणसमूह भी आकाशमें पक्षियोंके झुंडके समान दिखायी देने लगे
tathaiva śarajālāni bhīṣmeṇāstāni māriṣa | ākāśe samadṛśyanta khagamānāṁ vrajā iva ||
Sañjaya nói: “Cũng vậy, hỡi người thân mến, những lưới tên do Bhīṣma bắn ra hiện lên trên trời như đàn chim đang bay.”
संजय उवाच
The verse primarily conveys epic poetics rather than a direct moral injunction: it highlights how overwhelming force in war can fill the very sky, and it uses a vivid simile to make the scene intelligible—suggesting that even terrifying violence can be narrated with disciplined, aesthetic clarity.
Sañjaya describes Bhīṣma releasing dense volleys of arrows. The arrow-masses are so numerous that they appear in the sky like flocks of birds, emphasizing Bhīṣma’s formidable martial power on the battlefield.