Shloka 18
सहदेव-राधेय-संग्रामः; शल्य-प्रभावः; अलम्बुस-निवर्तनम्
Sahadeva and Karṇa; Śalya’s pressure; Alambusa’s interception
अथास्य सूतस्य शिरो निकृत्य भल्लेन कालानलसंनिभेन । सकुण्डलं पूर्णशशिप्रकाशं भ्राजिष्णु वक्त्रं निचकर्त देहात्,तत्पश्चात् उनके सारथिका भी मस्तक काटकर कालाग्निके समान तेजस्वी भल्लद्दारा पूर्ण चन्द्रमाके समान कान्तिसे प्रकाशित होनेवाले उनके कुण्डलमण्डित मुखमण्डलको भी धड़से काट गिराया
athāsya sūtasya śiro nikṛtya bhallena kālānalasaṃnibhena | sakuṇḍalaṃ pūrṇaśaśiprakāśaṃ bhrājiṣṇu vaktraṃ nicakarta dehāt |
Sañjaya said: Then, severing the charioteer’s head with a bhalla arrow blazing like the fire of Kāla (Time), he next cut from the body the radiant face—adorned with earrings and shining like the full moon. The verse marks the grim momentum of battlefield violence, where skill and wrath eclipse restraint, and death comes not only to famed warriors but also to those bound to them by duty.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying impartiality of death in war and the ethical tension of battlefield duty: martial prowess can become ruthless, and even non-royal attendants like charioteers are swept into the consequences of a conflict driven by adharma and vengeance.
Sañjaya narrates a combat scene in which a warrior first beheads the opponent’s charioteer with a bhalla arrow and then severs the opponent’s radiant, earring-adorned face from the body, emphasizing the ferocity and speed of the slaughter.