Shloka 1
Somadatta’s Kṣātra-Dharma Accusation; Night Combat, Māyā, and the Fall of Ghaṭotkaca
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 131
ऑपन--मा_ज बछ। अि<-छऋाल एकोनत्रिशर्दाधिकशततमो<् ध्याय: भीमसेन और कर्णका युद्ध तथा कर्णकी पराजय धघतयाट्र उवाच निनदन्तं तथा तं तु भीमसेनं महाबलम् | मेघस्तनितनिर्घोषं के वीरा: पर्यवारयन्,धृतराष्ट्रने पूछा--संजय! इस प्रकार मेघकी गर्जनाके समान गम्भीर स्वरसे सिंहनाद करते हुए महाबली भीमसेनको किन वीरोंने रोका?
Dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
Ninandantaṃ tathā taṃ tu Bhīmasenaṃ mahābalam |
Meghastanita-nirghoṣaṃ ke vīrāḥ paryavārayan ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, which heroes checked that mighty Bhīmasena as he roared in triumph—his voice deep and thunderous like the rumbling of storm-clouds?”
धघतयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a war narrative, the verse highlights a moral tension: raw strength and triumphant rage (Bhīma’s thunderous roar) must still meet limits—set by opposing warriors and by the larger order of battle. Power is meaningful only in relation to restraint, resistance, and responsibility.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of Bhīma’s fierce advance and victory-cry, asks Sañjaya to identify the warriors who managed to stop or contain Bhīma on the battlefield. This sets up the next description of who confronted him in the ensuing combat sequence.