Shloka 45
Śalya–Bhīma Gadā-saṃnipāta and Śalya’s Bāṇa-jāla against Yudhiṣṭhira
Book 9, Chapter 11
अविद्धयदाचार्यसुतो नातिक्ुद्धों हसन्निव | आचार्य द्रोणके पुत्र अश्वत्थामाने अधिक क़्ुद्ध न होकर हँसते हुए-से दस-दस बाणोंद्वारा द्रौपदीके वीर पुत्रोंमेंसे प्रयेकको घायल कर दिया ।।
sañjaya uvāca | avidhyad ācāryasuto nātikruddho hasann iva | daśa-daśa-bāṇair draupadī-vīra-putrāṇāṃ pratyekaṃ vyathayām āsa || punaś ca bhīmasenasya hayān jaghāna sa hāve | aśvān hateṣu mahābāhuḥ pāṇḍuputro bhīmasenaḥ kṣipraṃ rathād avatarat | kupito daṇḍam udyamya kāla-sannibhaṃ gadāṃ gṛhītvā kṛtavarmaṇaḥ hayāṃś ca rathaṃ ca cūrṇayām āsa | kṛtavarmā tu tasmād rathāt plutyāpalāyata ||
Sañjaya sprach: Aśvatthāmā, der Sohn Droṇas, nicht übermäßig erzürnt und gleichsam lächelnd, verwundete jeden der heldenhaften Söhne Draupadīs mit zehn Pfeilen. Währenddessen hatte Bhīmasena einen anderen Wagen bestiegen; mitten im Kampf erschlug Kṛtavarmā erneut Bhīmas Pferde. Als seine Rosse gefallen waren, sprang der gewaltige Bhīma, Sohn Pāṇḍus, rasch vom Wagen herab. Zornentbrannt hob er seine Waffe wie einen Strafstab und, die Keule wie der Tod selbst ergreifend, zerschmetterte er Kṛtavarmās Pferde und Wagen zu Trümmern. Kṛtavarmā sprang daraufhin von jenem Wagen und floh.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how warfare tests inner discipline: Aśvatthāmā’s controlled, almost smiling precision contrasts with Bhīma’s explosive wrath. It implicitly raises an ethical tension central to kṣatriya-dharma—skill and restraint versus anger-driven retaliation—showing how emotions can rapidly intensify violence and destabilize conduct on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā wounds each of Draupadī’s sons with ten arrows. Kṛtavarmā then kills Bhīma’s horses again; Bhīma jumps down, enraged, and with a death-like mace smashes Kṛtavarmā’s horses and chariot. Kṛtavarmā escapes by leaping away and fleeing.