Shloka 96
नाराचान् दश सम्प्रैषीद् यमदण्डनिभाडज्छितान् | तदनन्तर महाबाहु भीमसेनने सुवर्णभूषित एवं यमदण्डके समान भयंकर दस तीखे नाराच अश्व॒त्थामापर चलाये ।। ते जत्रुदेशमासाद्य द्रोणपुत्रस्य मारिष
sañjaya uvāca |
nārācān daśa sampraiṣīd yamadaṇḍanibhān acchitān |
tad-anantaraṃ mahābāhuḥ bhīmasenena suvarṇabhūṣitaḥ evaṃ yamadaṇḍaka-samān bhayaṅkarān daśa tīkṣṇān nārācān aśvatthāmāparaṃ calāyate |
te jatrudeśam āsādya droṇaputrasya māriṣa |
Sañjaya said: Bhīmasena hurled ten nārāca arrows—unerring and dreadful, like the very staff of Yama. Immediately thereafter, the mighty Bhīma, adorned with gold, launched another ten sharp and terrifying nārācas, comparable to Yama’s rod, against Aśvatthāmā. Those missiles, O revered one, struck the collarbone/upper-chest region of Droṇa’s son. In this scene the epic underscores the grim ethic of battlefield duty: warriors answer violence with violence, yet the imagery of Yama’s staff reminds the listener that death is the inescapable moral horizon of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inexorable presence of death in war through the image of Yama’s staff. It implicitly frames battlefield action within kṣatriya-dharma: a warrior must act decisively in combat, yet the narrative reminds the listener that such action moves under the shadow of mortality and moral consequence.
Sañjaya describes Bhīma launching ten deadly nārāca arrows, then immediately sending another ten at Aśvatthāmā. The missiles strike Droṇa’s son in the jatrudeśa (collarbone/upper-chest region), emphasizing the ferocity and precision of the exchange.