Shloka 19
भीष्मस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति उपालम्भः
Bhīṣma’s Reproof to Duryodhana
मुमोच निशितान् बाणान् राक्षसेषु परंतप | जघान च महेष्वास: प्रधानांस्तत्र राक्षसान्
sañjaya uvāca | mumoca niśitān bāṇān rākṣaseṣu paraṃtapa | jaghāna ca maheṣvāsaḥ pradhānāṃs tatra rākṣasān |
Sañjaya said: O scorcher of foes, the great archer loosed keen arrows at the Rākṣasas, and there he struck down the foremost among them.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of decisive action in battle—meeting hostile forces with skill and resolve—while implicitly reminding the reader that such prowess operates within the larger Mahābhārata tension between necessary duty and the tragic moral cost of war.
Sanjaya reports that a mighty archer unleashes sharp arrows at the rākṣasas and kills their leading warriors, describing a moment of intense combat where the foremost opponents are eliminated.