Shloka 38
फिर शानपर चढ़ाकर तेज किये हुए सुवर्णमय पंखवाले बीस बाणोंसे उसके सारथिको और चार तीखे सायकोंसे उसके चारों घोड़ोंको भी घायल कर दिया ।। विद्ध्वा विद्ध्वानदद् द्रौ्णिं कम्पयन्निव मेदिनीम् । आददे सर्वलोकस्य प्राणानिव महारणे,धष्टद्युम्न अश्वत्थामाको बींध-बींधकर पृथ्वीको कँपाते हुए-से गरज रहे थे। मानो उस महासमरमें वे सम्पूर्ण जगतके प्राण ले रहे हों
tataḥ śānaparaṃ cāḍhāya tejaḥkṛtair hiraṇmayapakṣair viṃśatibhir bāṇair asya sārathiṃ caturbhiś ca tīkṣṇaiḥ sāyakaiś cāsya caturo 'śvān api vyathayat || viddhvā viddhvān adad drauṇiṃ kampayann iva medinīm | ādade sarvalokasya prāṇān iva mahāraṇe || dhṛṣṭadyumnaḥ aśvatthāmā ca bhindam-bhindan pṛthivīṃ kampayanta iva garjantaḥ sma, yathā mahāsamare sarvalokasya prāṇān ādadhyātām iva ||
Then, drawing his bow honed upon the whetstone, he wounded the charioteer with twenty keen arrows whose wings gleamed like gold; and with four sharp shafts he also injured the four horses. Having pierced Drauṇi (Aśvatthāmā), the mighty warrior made the earth seem to tremble. In that great battle, Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Aśvatthāmā, rending again and again as though shaking the ground itself, roared like lions—appearing as if they were seizing away the very life-breath of the whole world.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how, in war, martial excellence can become indistinguishable from destructive rage: the fighters appear to ‘take the world’s life-breath.’ It invites reflection on the ethical gravity of violence—how kṣatriya valor, when unrestrained, makes the battlefield feel like a cosmic loss of life rather than a mere contest of arms.
Sañjaya describes a fierce exchange in which Dhṛṣṭadyumna shoots twenty golden-fletched arrows to wound Aśvatthāmā’s charioteer and four sharp arrows to injure the four horses. After piercing Aśvatthāmā (Drauṇi), both warriors roar and fight with such intensity that the earth seems to tremble, as if the battle were draining life itself from all beings.