Shloka 31
भीष्म-युधिष्ठिर-संमर्दः
Bhīṣma’s Pressure on Yudhiṣṭhira; Śikhaṇḍī’s Approach; Evening Withdrawal
ते विकर्ण समासाद्य कड्कबर्हिणवासस: । भित्त्वा देहं गता भूमिं ज्वलन्त इव पन्नगा:,उन बाणोंके पुच्छभागमें मोरके पंख लगे हुए थे। वे विकर्णके शरीरको विदीर्ण करके भीतर घुस गये और वहाँसे भी निकलकर प्रज्वलित सर्पोकी भाँति पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े
te vikarṇa samāsādya kaṅkabārhiṇavāsasaḥ | bhittvā dehaṃ gatā bhūmiṃ jvalanta iva pannagāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Those arrows, their shafts adorned with water-bird feathers and peacock plumes, struck Vikarṇa; tearing through his body, they passed on and fell to the earth like blazing serpents. The image evokes the war’s impersonal relentlessness—where skill and wrath make weapons seem alive with terror, and a warrior’s body becomes a brief passage for fate and violence.
संजय उवाच