Shloka 23
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
समीयतुस्तदान्योन्यं परस्परवधैषिणौ । वे दोनों ही मनुष्योंमें व्याप्रके समान पराक्रमी थे और दोनों ही धनुर्धरोंमें श्रेष्ठ समझे जाते थे। उस समय परस्पर वधकी इच्छासे दोनों ही एक-दूसरेके साथ भिड़ गये || २२३ || तयोरासीन्महाराज बाणवर्ष सुदारुणम्
samīyatus tadānyonyaṃ parasparavadhaiṣiṇau | tayor āsīn mahārāja bāṇavarṣaṃ sudāruṇam ||
Sañjaya nói: Rồi hai người lao vào nhau, mỗi kẻ đều khát khao cái chết của đối phương. Ôi Đại vương, giữa họ bùng lên một trận mưa tên vô cùng khủng khiếp.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial prowess, when governed by the desire to kill, becomes ethically grim: skill and valor are morally neutral until directed by intention. It implicitly contrasts kṣatriya valor with the peril of hatred-driven reciprocity.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that two opposing warriors have closed in on each other, both seeking the other’s death, and that their duel erupts into a fierce exchange—described as a terrifying ‘rain of arrows.’