Mahabharata — Drona Parva, Shloka 376

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 107: Karṇa–Bhīma Saṃmarda

Arrow-storm Engagement

Devanagari script

अदृश्यं समरे चक्र: सायकौचै: समन्तत: । तब उन सभी पुरुषसिंह महारथियोंने भी समरांगणमें सब ओरसे बाणसमूहोंकी वर्षा करके अर्जुनको अदृश्य कर दिया

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

adṛśyaṃ samare cakruḥ sāyakaughaiḥ samantataḥ |

Translation

三阇耶说道：在鏖战之中，他们以四面八方密集的箭簇使他隐没无形。那些狮子般的伟大车战士在战场周遭倾泻齐射，箭雨层层覆盖阿周那，令其不复可见——此象征武艺之威，亦能在战争狂澜里片刻遮蔽最卓绝的英雄。

Word by Word

• अदृश्यम्: invisible (as an object/state made)
• अदृश्यम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अदृश्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• समरे: in battle
• समरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समर
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• चक्रः: made / did
• चक्रः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सायकौघैः: with masses/hosts of arrows
• सायकौघैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सायकौघ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• समन्ततः: on all sides, all around
• समन्ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: समन्ततस्

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Arjuna
• arrows (sāyaka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, sheer force and coordinated aggression can overwhelm perception and visibility itself; it implicitly cautions that battlefield success often depends on collective tactics and intensity, not only individual fame—raising ethical awareness of war’s engulfing, dehumanizing momentum.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports that multiple great chariot-warriors unleash a surrounding rain of arrows, creating such a dense barrage that Arjuna becomes hidden from view on the battlefield.