Shloka 16
अध्याय ८० — मध्यंदिन-रणवृत्तान्तः
Yudhiṣṭhira–Śrutāyu encounter; Cekitāna–Gautama clash; Abhimanyu pressure; Arjuna’s redeployment
ततो रथं समुत्सृज्य गदामादाय पाण्डव: । जघान धार्तराष्ट्राणां तं बलौघं महार्णवम्,तदनन्तर पाण्डुनन्दन भीमसेन हाथमें गदा ले रथको त्यागकर उस विशाल सेनामें घुसकर उस महासागरतुल्य सैन्यसमुदायका विनाश करने लगे
tato rathaṁ samutsṛjya gadām ādāya pāṇḍavaḥ | jaghāna dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṁ taṁ balaughaṁ mahārṇavam ||
Sañjaya said: Then the Pāṇḍava (Bhīmasena), abandoning his chariot and taking up his mace, struck into that massed host of the Dhārtarāṣṭras—an army like a great ocean—beginning to shatter and destroy that sea-like formation with irresistible force.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in its starkest form: when the battle’s demands intensify, the warrior abandons comfort and tactical distance (the chariot) and commits directly with personal courage. Ethically, it reflects the epic’s tension between necessary duty in war and the terrible cost of violence.
Sañjaya describes Bhīma leaping down from his chariot, taking up his mace, and plunging into the Kaurava host. The Kaurava army is compared to a vast ocean, and Bhīma begins to break through it by force, initiating a destructive assault on the enemy formation.