Shloka 30
कर्णभीमयुद्धम्
Karna–Bhīma Combat Report
राजन्! उस समरांगणमें क्रोधसे लाल आँखें किये युधिष्ठिरने द्रोणके उन बाणोंको काटकर एक शक्ति हाथमें ली, जो पर्वतोंको भी विदीर्ण कर देनेवाली थी। उसमें सोनेका डंडा और आठ घंटियाँ लगी थीं। वह अत्यन्त घोर शक्ति मनमें भय उत्पन्न करनेवाली थी ।। समुत्क्षिप्प च तां हृष्टो ननाद बलवद् बली । नादेन सर्वभूतानि त्रासयन्निव भारत
sanjaya uvāca |
rājan! tasmin samarāṅgaṇe krodhena lālākṣaḥ yudhiṣṭhiraḥ droṇasya tān bāṇān chittvā ekaṃ śaktiṃ hastam ādade, yā parvatān api vidārayituṃ samarthā āsīt | tasyāḥ suvarṇadaṇḍaḥ aṣṭau ca ghaṇṭāḥ saṃnaddhāḥ | sā atyanta-ghorā śaktir manasi bhayaṃ janayantī āsīt ||
samutkṣipya ca tāṃ hṛṣṭo nanāda balavad balī |
nādena sarvabhūtāni trāsayann iva bhārata ||
Sañjaya said: O King, on that battlefield Yudhiṣṭhira, his eyes reddened with wrath, cut down Droṇa’s arrows and seized a śakti-weapon in his hand—one capable of rending even mountains. It had a golden shaft and was fitted with eight bells. That exceedingly dreadful śakti seemed to generate fear in the mind. Lifting it up in exhilaration, the mighty warrior roared loudly, as though with that roar he were terrifying all beings, O Bhārata.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension within kṣatriya-dharma: even a dharma-minded king like Yudhiṣṭhira can be driven by wrath in war, yet his action is framed within the battlefield duty to resist an overwhelming foe. It also shows how fear can be generated not only by weapons but by resolve and psychological force.
Sanjaya describes Yudhiṣṭhira, enraged, cutting down Droṇa’s arrows and taking up a terrifying śakti (spear-weapon) with a golden shaft and eight bells. He raises it and roars so loudly that it seems to frighten all beings.