Shloka 4
यथा रात्रिक्षये राजन् ज्योतींष्यस्तागिरिं प्रति । समापेतुस्तथा बाणा भीमसेनरथं प्रति,राजन! जैसे रात्रि समाप्त होनेके समय सारे ज्योतिर्मय ग्रह-नक्षत्र अस्ताचलकी ओर चले जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार अश्वत्थामाके बाण भीमसेनके रथपर गिरने लगे
yathā rātrikṣaye rājan jyotīṁṣy astāgiriṁ prati | samāpetus tathā bāṇā bhīmasenarathaṁ prati ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, just as, at the ending of night, the luminous stars and planets seem to move toward the mountain of setting, so too did Aśvatthāmā’s arrows converge and fall upon Bhīmasena’s chariot.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare can take on an impersonal, inevitable momentum—like celestial bodies following their course—suggesting the moral gravity and inescapable consequences that accompany violent action.
Sañjaya describes Aśvatthāmā’s concentrated attack: his arrows stream toward and strike Bhīma’s chariot in a massed, converging manner, compared to stars and planets moving toward the western horizon at dawn.