Shloka 58
अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च
Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter
सिंहास्यं च यथा प्राप्प न जीवन्ति मृगा: क्वचित्
siṁhāsyaṁ ca yathā prāpya na jīvanti mṛgāḥ kvacit
Sañjaya said: “Just as deer, on reaching the lion’s very mouth, do not survive anywhere at all, so too those who fall into the immediate grasp of a mighty foe find no escape—an image underscoring the ruthless finality of war when strength and circumstance overwhelm prudence.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the inevitability of destruction when one enters the immediate domain of overwhelming power; it functions as a moral warning about recognizing peril, the limits of courage, and the harsh finality that war can impose.
Sañjaya uses a vivid simile—deer reaching a lion’s mouth—to describe a situation on the battlefield where certain warriors, having come within the decisive reach of a formidable opponent, have virtually no chance of survival.