Shloka 3
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
सम्ममर्द च तत् सैन्यं पिता देवव्रतस्तव । धान्यानामिव लूनानां प्रकरं गोगणा इव,राजन! जैसे बैलोंके समुदाय कटे हुए धानके बोझोंका मर्दन करते हैं, उसी प्रकार आपके ताऊ देवव्रतने उस सेनाको रौंद डाला
saṃmamarda ca tat sainyaṃ pitā devavratas tava | dhānyānām iva lūnānāṃ prakaraṃ gogāṇā iva, rājan |
Sanjaya sprach: O König, dein Oheim Devavrata (Bhishma) zermalmte jenes Heer, wie eine Herde Ochsen Haufen von geschnittenem Korn niedertritt und zusammenpresst.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying effectiveness of martial power in war and, by contrast, the fragility of massed troops before an exceptional commander. Ethically, it points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: kṣatriya-duty demands fighting, yet the consequences are crushing and dehumanizing, like grain pressed under hooves.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma (Devavrata), the king’s elder kinsman, has routed and trampled the opposing forces. The comparison to oxen trampling heaps of harvested grain conveys the scale and ease with which Bhīṣma breaks the enemy formation.