Shloka 166
ज्वलन्तीं प्राहिणोत् तस्मै भूतं तामपि चाग्रसत् । तदनन्तर कुपित हुए अश्वत्थामाने उसके ऊपर अपनी इन्द्रध्वजके समान प्रकाशित होनेवाली गदा चलायी; परंतु वह भूत उसे भी लील गया
sañjaya uvāca | jvalantīṁ prāhiṇot tasmai bhūtaṁ tām api cāgrasat | tad-anantaraṁ kupito ’śvatthāmā tasya upari indra-dhvaja-sama-prakāśāṁ gadāṁ prāhiṇot; parantu tat bhūtam tām api līlayā jagrāsa |
Sanjaya said: He hurled a blazing weapon at him, but that very being swallowed it. Then, enraged, Ashvatthama cast at it a mace shining like Indra’s banner; yet that spirit effortlessly devoured even the mace. The scene underscores the moral inversion of the night-raid: when violence is unmoored from dharma, human prowess and weapons lose their rightful efficacy before darker, uncanny forces.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the collapse of ordinary martial power when action proceeds in a morally corrupted space: weapons and strength, detached from dharma, can become ineffective, and the narrative frames the night’s violence as inviting uncanny, destructive forces beyond human control.
A supernatural being confronts the attacker; a flaming missile is hurled but is swallowed. Ashvatthama, angered, then throws a mace shining like Indra’s standard, yet the being devours that too, showing the spirit’s overpowering dominance in the scene.