तम् आचार्यो महाराज विद्ध्वा पञ्चभिर् आशुगैः ॥
पुनर् विव्याध विंशत्या पुत्राणां प्रियकृत् तव ॥
महद् युद्धं तयोर् आसीद् घोररूपं विशां पते ॥
यथा देवासुरे युद्धे शम्बरामरराजयोः ॥
शरजालावृतं व्योम चक्रतुस् तौ महारथौ ॥
प्रकृत्या घोररूपं तद् आसीद् घोरतरं पुनः ॥
रात्रिश् च भरतश्रेष्ठ योधानां युद्धशालिनाम् ॥
कालरात्रिनिभा ह्य् आसीद् घोररूपा भयावहा ॥
tam ācāryo mahārāja viddhvā pañcabhir āśugaiḥ ||
punar vivyādha viṃśatyā putrāṇāṃ priyakṛt tava ||
mahad yuddhaṃ tayor āsīd ghorarūpaṃ viśāṃ pate ||
yathā devāsure yuddhe śambarāmararājayoḥ ||
śarajālāvṛtaṃ vyoma cakratus tau mahārathau ||
prakṛtyā ghorarūpaṃ tad āsīd ghorataraṃ punaḥ ||
rātriś ca bharataśreṣṭha yodhānāṃ yuddhaśālinām ||
kālarātrinibhā hy āsīd ghorarūpā bhayāvahā ||
Shikhandin, as though smiling, pierced Gautama [Kripa], the tamer of foes, coming swiftly toward Drona, with nine broad-headed arrows. His teacher [Kripa], O great king, caring for the good of your sons, having pierced him with five swift arrows, again pierced him with twenty. Great was the battle between those two, fearsome in aspect, O lord of peoples, as in the battle of gods and asuras between Shambara and the king of the immortals [Indra]. The sky, covered with a web of arrows, was made by those two great warriors; and that which was already fearsome by nature became yet more fearsome.
da0d47c09403 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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Shikhandin - born to become the cause of Bhishma's death - here clashes with the aged teacher Kripa, as Indra clashed with Shambara. It is significant that arrows blot out the sky: the strife of men darkens the very heavens. The verse teaches that discord, once grown great, does not remain a thing of earth alone, but seems to eclipse the light above; and the fiercer the clash, the thicker the darkness that rises between earth and heaven - an image of how hatred veils from man the shining of truth.