Shloka 10
Chapter 89: Bhīma dispatched to protect Ghaṭotkaca amid escalating engagements
तब क्रोधमें भरे हुए राजा युधिष्ठिरने कुरुवंशी महात्मा भीष्मपर विषधर सर्पके समान नाराचका प्रहार किया ।। असप्प्राप्तं ततस्तं तु क्षुरप्रेण महारथ: । चिच्छेद समरे राजन् भीष्मस्तस्य धनुश्ष्युतम्,राजन! परंतु महारथी भीष्मने युधिष्ठिरके धनुषसे छूटे हुए उस नाराचको अपने पास पहुँचनेसे पहले ही समरभूमिमें एक क्षुरप्रद्वारा काट गिराया
sañjaya uvāca | atha krodhabhṛto rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ kurūdvahaṃ mahātmānaṃ bhīṣmaṃ viṣadhara-sarpa-sannibhaṃ nārācaṃ prāhiṇot || asamprāptaṃ tataḥ taṃ tu kṣurapreṇa mahārathaḥ | ciccheda samare rājan bhīṣmas tasya dhanuṣyutam ||
Sañjaya said: Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, filled with anger, hurled at Bhīṣma—the great-souled foremost of the Kurus—a nārāca arrow, like a venom-bearing serpent. But before that shaft, loosed from Yudhiṣṭhira’s bow, could reach him, the great chariot-warrior Bhīṣma, O King, cut it down in battle with a razor-headed arrow.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a dharma-minded person like Yudhiṣṭhira can be overtaken by krodha (anger) under the pressures of war; the episode highlights the ethical danger of wrath and the ideal of steadiness and mastery (seen in Bhīṣma’s composed, skillful response) amid violent duty.
Sanjaya describes Yudhiṣṭhira, enraged, shooting a nārāca at Bhīṣma; Bhīṣma intercepts it before it reaches him, slicing it mid-course with a razor-headed arrow, demonstrating superior battlefield precision.