Shloka 233
भीमसेन-धृष्टद्युम्नयोर्वाक्यं
Bhīmasena and Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s Speeches on Kṣātra-Dharma
वराहकर्णनलिीकैर्विकर्ण श्षा भ्यवीवृषत् । तत्पश्चात् भीमसेनके प्रतापी पुत्र घटोत्कचने क्रोधमें भरकर वज्र एवं बिजलीके समान चमकनेवाले भयंकर बाणोंद्वारा अश्वत्थामाको क्षत-विक्षत कर दिया तथा उसके ऊपर क्षुगप्र, अर्धचन्द्र, नाराच, शिलीमुख, वराहकर्ण, नालीक और विकर्ण आदि अस्त्रोंकी चारों ओरसे वर्षा आरम्भ कर दी
varāhakarṇa-nālīkair vikarṇa-śarair abhyavarṣat | tatpaścāt bhīmasena-putraḥ pratāpī ghaṭotkacaḥ krodham āpūrya vajra-vidyut-sadṛśa-prabhair bhīṣaṇaiḥ śaraiḥ aśvatthāmānaṃ kṣata-vikṣataṃ cakāra | tasya ca upari kṣurapra-ardhacandra-nārāca-śilīmukha-varāhakarṇa-nālīka-vikarṇādibhir astrāṇāṃ sarvataḥ varṣaṃ prārabhata ||
Sañjaya said: He showered him with varāhakarṇa and nālīka arrows, and with vikarṇa shafts. Thereafter the mighty Ghaṭotkaca, son of Bhīmasena, filled with wrath, tore Aśvatthāmā to pieces with dreadful arrows flashing like thunderbolt and lightning; and then he began a rain of weapons on him from every side—kṣurapras, half-moon blades, nārācas, śilīmukhas, varāhakarṇas, nālīkas, vikarṇas, and the like. In the epic’s ethical texture, the line heightens the tragic momentum of war: anger drives the deed, and martial prowess, though heroic, escalates violence rather than restoring dharma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how krodha (wrath) fuels the spiral of destruction in war: even extraordinary valor and skill, when driven by anger, intensify suffering rather than clearly re-establishing dharma. It invites reflection on the ethical cost of vengeance and the momentum of violence once unleashed.
Sañjaya describes Ghaṭotkaca, Bhīma’s powerful son, attacking Aśvatthāmā with a dense, all-sided barrage of named arrows and weapon-forms—varāhakarṇa, nālīka, vikarṇa, kṣurapra, ardhacandra, nārāca, śilīmukha—wounding and mangling him amid a terrifying rain of missiles.