Shloka 15
भीष्मस्य जलप्रार्थना — अर्जुनस्य पर्जन्यास्त्रप्रयोगः — दुर्योधनं प्रति सन्ध्युपदेशः
Bhīṣma’s request for water; Arjuna’s Parjanya-astra; counsel to Duryodhana on reconciliation
सैन्धवस्य तथाश्रांश्व॒ सारथिं च त्रिभि: शरै: | प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय कालान्तकसमद्युति:,इसके बाद प्रलयकालीन यमराजके समान तेजस्वी भीमसेनने तीन बाणोंद्वारा सिन्धुराज जयद्रथके घोड़ों तथा सारथिको यमलोक भेज दिया
Saindhavasya tathāśvān sārathiṁ ca tribhiḥ śaraiḥ | prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya kālāntaka-samadyutiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then Bhīmasena—radiant like Yama, the Ender of Time at the hour of dissolution—sent to the realm of Death the Sindhu king Jayadratha’s horses and his charioteer with three arrows. In the moral atmosphere of the war, the verse underscores the grim inevitability of death in battle and the fierce, time-like force that warriors embody when dharma has collapsed into armed conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inexorable power of Time and Death in war: when conflict escalates, even attendants and animals become casualties, and a warrior can appear as an instrument of fate. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s sober view that adharma-driven war consumes all, not only principal combatants.
Sañjaya narrates that Bhīmasena, blazing like the destroyer at the end of time, strikes with three arrows and kills (or fatally dispatches) Jayadratha’s horses and charioteer, sending them to Mṛtyuloka.