Shloka 2
Bhīṣma’s Fall, the Arrow-bed (śara-talpa), and the Establishment of Guard
विधुन्वानो नरश्रेष्ठो द्रावयाणो वरूथिनीम् । पृतनां पाण्डवेयानां गाहमाना महाबल:
vidhunvāno naraśreṣṭho drāvayāṇo varūthinīm | pṛtanāṃ pāṇḍaveyānāṃ gāhamāno mahābalaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The best of men, of mighty strength, shook the enemy ranks and drove their battle-array into flight, plunging deep into the Pāṇḍava host. The verse highlights the fierce momentum of a single powerful warrior in war—where valor and force can scatter formations—while implicitly reminding the listener that such prowess, though dazzling, operates within the larger moral and fated order governing the Kurukṣetra conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the raw power of martial prowess—how a single mighty hero can shake and scatter formations—yet, in the Mahābhārata’s ethical horizon, such force is not the final measure of rightness; it functions within dharma, responsibility, and the unfolding consequences of the war.
Sañjaya describes a powerful warrior (unnamed in this single verse) who shakes the opposing ranks, routs a battle-formation, and drives into the midst of the Pāṇḍava army, intensifying the clash on the battlefield.