Shloka 70
अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च
Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter
भीमसेनस्तु संसक्ते राधेये पाण्डवैः सह | सर्वतो5भ्यहनत् क्रुद्धो यमदण्डनिभै: शरैः । वाह्लीकान् केकयान् मत्स्यान् वासात्यान् मद्रसैन्धवान्
bhīmasenas tu saṁsakte rādheye pāṇḍavaiḥ saha | sarvato 'bhyahanat kruddho yamadaṇḍanibhaiḥ śaraiḥ | vāhlīkān kekayān matsyān vāsātyān madrasindhavān |
Sañjaya said: When the battle had locked Bhīmasena in close engagement with Rādheya (Karna) alongside the Pāṇḍavas, he, enraged, struck down warriors on every side with arrows like Yama’s rod of punishment. He smote the Vāhlīkas, the Kekayas, the Matsyas, the Vāsātyas, and the Madras and Sindhavas—spreading fear and retribution across the field as the fury of war eclipsed restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral gravity of war: anger amplifies violence, and battle becomes a field of swift punishment (evoked through the image of Yama’s rod). It implicitly warns that even righteous duty, when driven by wrath, spreads suffering widely beyond the immediate opponent.
Sanjaya reports that Bhima, while engaged in the broader clash involving Karna, becomes furious and attacks in all directions, cutting down multiple allied contingents—Vahlikas, Kekayas, Matsyas, Vasatyas, Madras, and Sindhavas—with deadly arrows.