Shloka 26
शिरांसि भल्लैरहरद् बाहूनपि च सायुधान् । हस्तिहस्तोपमां श्लोरून् शरैरुव्यामपातयत्,उन्होंने भल्ल्लोंद्वारा उनके सिर उड़ा दिये, आयुधोंसहित भुजाएँ काट डालीं और हाथीकी सूँड़के समान मोटी जाँघोंको भी बाणोंद्वारा पृथ्वीपर काट गिराया
śirāṃsi bhallair aharad bāhūn api ca sāyudhān | hastihastopamāṃ śūrūn śarair urvyām apātayat ||
Sañjaya said: With razor-headed arrows he sheared off their heads; he also cut down their arms even as they still held their weapons, and with his shafts he felled to the earth their thighs—thick like an elephant’s trunk. The verse underscores the brutal efficiency of battlefield skill, where martial prowess, though admired, manifests as relentless violence within the tragic compulsion of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grim reality of war: extraordinary martial skill can be exercised with ruthless effectiveness. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical horizon, such prowess belongs to kṣatriya-duty, yet it simultaneously exposes the tragic cost of conflict—bodily destruction and the dehumanizing momentum of battle.
Sañjaya describes a warrior’s devastating assault: heads are severed with bhalla arrows, arms are cut off even while holding weapons, and thick thighs—likened to an elephant’s trunk—are struck down so that the fighters collapse onto the earth.