Shloka 34
भीमसेनस्य गदायुद्ध-प्रभावः
The Battlefield Impact of Bhīmasena’s Mace Combat
यो यो हि समरे पार्थ प्रत्युद्याति विशाम्पते । स संख्ये विशिखैस्तीक्ष्पै: परलोकाय नीयते,प्रजानाथ! उस युद्धभूमिमें जो-जो वीर अर्जुनकी ओर बढ़ता था, वही-वही उनके पैने बाणोंद्वारा परलोक पहुँचा दिया जाता था
yo yo hi samare pārtha pratyudyāti viśāmpate | sa saṅkhye viśikhaiḥ tīkṣṇaiḥ paralokāya nīyate prajānātha ||
Sañjaya said: O Pārtha, O lord of the people—whoever in that battle advanced to confront (Arjuna), each such warrior, in the thick of the fight, was driven by his sharp arrows to the other world.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inexorable consequence of battlefield aggression: in war, those who choose to confront a superior archer meet death swiftly. Ethically, it points to the heavy cost of kṣatriya conflict—skill and duty operate within a tragic economy where action (karma) immediately bears fruit.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that on the battlefield, any warrior who advanced to face Arjuna was struck down by Arjuna’s sharp arrows and thus sent to the next world, emphasizing Arjuna’s overwhelming prowess in that phase of the fighting.