Shloka 11
वृद्धौ हि तो महेष्वासौ छलेन निहतौ युधि,वे दोनों महाधनुर्धर योद्धा बूढ़े हो गये थे, इसलिये युद्धमें शत्रुओंद्वारा छलपूर्वक मारे गये। अनघ! वे दुष्कर कर्म करके यहाँसे स्वर्गलोकमें चले गये। इसी प्रकार दूसरे पुरुषसिंह वीर भी युद्धमें शत्रुओंद्वारा मारे गये हैं
vṛddhau hi tau maheṣvāsau chalena nihatau yudhi | ve ubhau mahādhanurdhara yoddhā būḍhe ho gaye the, isaliye yuddha meṃ śatruoṃ dvārā chalapūrvaka māre gaye | anagha! ve duṣkara karma karke ihāṃ se svargaloka meṃ cale gaye | isī prakāra dūsare puruṣasiṃha vīra bhī yuddha meṃ śatruoṃ dvārā māre gaye haiṃ ||
Sañjaya said: “Those two great bowmen had grown old; therefore, in battle they were slain by the enemy through deceit. O sinless one, having accomplished arduous deeds, they departed from here to the world of heaven. In the same way, other lion-like heroes too have been struck down in war by their foes.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse juxtaposes two moral realities of the epic war: (1) the tragic presence of chala (deceit) as a cause of death even for eminent warriors, and (2) the traditional kṣatriya valuation that those who perform duṣkara deeds and fall in battle attain svarga. It thus reflects the Mahābhārata’s tension between ethical ideals and wartime degeneration.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that two renowned archers—now aged—were killed in battle through deceptive means by their enemies. He consoles or contextualizes the event by stating that, having performed difficult heroic acts, they went to heaven, and that many other lion-like warriors have likewise been slain in the same war.