Shloka 20
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
येन नागेन मघवानजयद्ू दैत्यदानवान् । तदन्वयेन नागेन भीमसेनमुपाद्रवत्,इन्द्रने जिस ऐरावत हाथीके द्वारा दैत्यों और दानवोंपर विजय पायी थी, उसीके वंशमें उत्पन्न हुए गजराजपर आरूढ़ हो भगदत्तने भीमसेनपर चढ़ाई की थी
yena nāgena maghavān ajayad daityadānavān | tad-anvayena nāgena bhīmasenam upādravat ||
Sañjaya said: Mounted upon the lordly elephant born in the lineage of Airāvata—by whom Indra once conquered the Daityas and Dānavas—Bhagadatta charged straight at Bhīmasena.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how power and prestige—especially claims of divine or heroic lineage—are used to frame battlefield action. Ethically, it reflects the epic’s recurring tension: warriors act within their sworn loyalties and roles, while reputation and inherited might become instruments that shape courage, fear, and resolve.
Sañjaya describes Bhagadatta advancing to attack Bhīma while riding a great elephant said to descend from the same line as Indra’s famed Airāvata, the elephant associated with Indra’s victories over the Daityas and Dānavas.