Shloka 10
Nakula–Śakuni Duel and the Night Battle; Śikhaṇḍin–Kṛpa Engagement (नकुल-शकुनियुद्धं तथा रात्रियुद्धवर्णनम्)
अद्य संयमनीं याता मया त्वं निहतो रणे । यथा रामानुजेनाजौ रावणिर्लक्ष्मणेन ह,'जैसे पूर्वकालमें श्रीरामचन्द्रजीके भाई लक्ष्मणके द्वारा युद्धमें रावणकुमार इन्द्रजित् मारा गया था, उसी प्रकार इस रणभूमिमें मेरे द्वारा मारे जाकर तुम आज ही यमराजकी संयमनीपुरीकी ओर प्रस्थान करोगे
sañjaya uvāca | adya saṃyamanīṃ yātā mayā tvaṃ nihato raṇe | yathā rāmānujenājau rāvaṇir lakṣmaṇena ha ||
Sañjaya said: “Today, slain by me in battle, you will depart for Saṃyamanī, the city of Yama. Just as in former times Rāvaṇa’s son Indrajit was killed in combat by Lakṣmaṇa, the younger brother of Śrī Rāma, so too will you, struck down on this battlefield, go now to the Lord of Death’s abode.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the epic’s kṣatriya-war ethos: death in battle is framed as an inevitable passage to Yama’s realm, and martial confidence is expressed through comparison with a famed precedent (Lakṣmaṇa’s slaying of Indrajit). It highlights how warriors interpret combat through models of earlier dharmic heroism and the certainty of mortality.
A combatant’s words (reported by Sañjaya) threaten the opponent with immediate death, declaring that the foe will go to Saṃyamanī (Yama’s city) that very day. The speaker strengthens the claim by invoking the well-known Rāmāyaṇa episode where Lakṣmaṇa killed Rāvaṇa’s son Indrajit in battle.