Shloka 63
मम प्राणानारुजन्ति नेमे बाणा: शिखण्डिन: । नाशयन्तीव मे प्राणान् यमदूता इवाहिता:
mama prāṇān ārujanti neme bāṇāḥ śikhaṇḍinaḥ | nāśayantīva me prāṇān yamadūtā ivāhitāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “These arrows of Śikhaṇḍin are tearing at my very life-breath. They seem as though they would destroy my life, like Yama’s messengers set upon me.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the immediacy of mortality in war: even a great warrior’s confidence can be shaken when death feels near. Ethically, it highlights how violence inevitably summons the shadow of death, reminding listeners that martial glory is inseparable from suffering and impermanence.
Sañjaya reports the intensity of Śikhaṇḍin’s attack: the arrows are described as life-rending, likened to Yama’s messengers. The simile conveys that the assault feels not merely wounding but death-dealing, heightening the dramatic tension of the battlefield account.