Shloka 8
भीष्मस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति उपालम्भः
Bhīṣma’s Reproof to Duryodhana
आजपचघान सुसंक्रुद्ध:/ कालान्तकयमोपम: । वज्रकी गड़गड़ाहटके समान भयंकर गर्जना करके काल
sañjaya uvāca | ajapacaghānaḥ susaṃkruddhaḥ kālāntaka-yamopamaḥ | vajrakī-gaḍagaḍāhaṭa-samānāṃ bhayaṅkarāṃ garjanāṃ kṛtvā kāla-antaka-yama-sadṛśa-krodha-bharaḥ sa rākṣaso bhīṣaṇa-rūpaṃ kṛtvā prajvalita-triśūlaṃ haste gṛhītvā nānā-vidhaiḥ astra-śastraiḥ sampannaiḥ mahā-rākṣasaiḥ saha āgatya tava senāyāḥ saṃhāram ārabdhavān | tam āpatantaṃ samprekṣya saṃkruddhaṃ bhīma-darśanam |
Sañjaya sprach: Ajapacaghāna, von Zorn entflammt und dem Zeitlauf, dem Tod und Yama gleich, stieß ein furchtbares Brüllen aus, wie das dröhnende Krachen eines Vajra-Blitzes. In schrecklicher Gestalt ergriff er einen lodernden Dreizack und kam, begleitet von riesenhaften Rākṣasas, die mit Waffen aller Art gerüstet waren, heran und begann das Gemetzel in deinem Heer. Als man ihn heranstürmen sah—wutentbrannt und grauenerregend anzuschauen—(handelten die Krieger entsprechend).
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how uncontrolled wrath (krodha) becomes a force likened to Time and Death—overwhelming, indiscriminate, and ethically corrosive. In the Mahabharata’s war setting, such imagery warns that when rage governs action, destruction expands beyond strategic necessity and pushes the conflict further from dharma.
Sanjaya reports that the rakshasa Ajapacaghāna, roaring terribly and wielding a flaming trident, arrives with other heavily armed rakshasas and begins cutting down the Kaurava forces. The closing phrase sets up the next action: warriors observe this fearsome, charging attacker and respond.