Shloka 143
कोशात् समुद्वरर्हाशु बिलाद् दीप्तमिवोरगम् । तब अभश्व॒त्थामाने सोनेकी मूठसे सुशोभित तथा आकाशके समान निर्मल कान्तिवाली अपनी दिव्य तलवार तुरंत ही म्यानसे बाहर निकाली, मानो प्रज्वलित सर्पको बिलसे बाहर निकाला गया हो
kośāt samudvṛtya hāśu bilād dīptam ivoragam | tadā aśvatthāmā śoṇekīṃ muṣṭinā suśobhitām tathā ākāśa-samāṃ nirmala-kāntimatīṃ sva-divyāṃ talavārāṃ tūrṇaṃ myānād udāharat ||
Sañjaya said: Then Aśvatthāmā swiftly drew his divine sword from its scabbard—bright, spotless, and gleaming like the sky, its hilt adorned for a firm grip—just as one might pull a blazing serpent out from its hole. The image underscores the sudden, dangerous unleashing of violence in the night’s aftermath, where wrath and resolve eclipse restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark simile—unsheathing a sword like extracting a blazing serpent—to highlight how quickly lethal intent can be unleashed. In the Sauptika context, it warns of the ethical collapse that follows when anger and vengeance override dharma, especially in acts carried out under cover of night.
Sañjaya describes Aśvatthāmā swiftly drawing his radiant, divine sword from its scabbard. The comparison to pulling a fiery serpent from a burrow signals imminent danger and foreshadows violent action in the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war.