Shloka 14
अध्याय १५९ — रात्रौ श्रमविरामः
Night Exhaustion and Brief Pause in Battle
स तथाभिहतो भीमश्नचकम्पे च मुमोह च
sa tathābhihato bhīmaḥ śanakaiḥ akampe ca mumohaca
Sañjaya said: Thus struck, Bhīma—though famed for steadfast courage—began to tremble slightly and, for a moment, fell into a faint. In the war’s moral air, the line shows how even the mightiest can be shaken by violence, revealing the human cost that adharma-driven fury and relentless combat lay upon body and mind.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of embodied life even in heroic figures: war’s blows can overwhelm strength and resolve, reminding readers that violence carries inevitable physical and psychological consequences and that true discernment (dharma) must account for this human cost.
Sañjaya reports that Bhīma has been struck in battle; as a result he begins to tremble and briefly loses consciousness, indicating the severity of the blow and a momentary reversal in the combat’s momentum.