Shloka 47
पोथयामास तुरगान् रथं च कृतवर्मण: । कृतवर्मा त्ववप्लुत्य रथात् तस्मादपाक्रमत्,(इसी बीचमें भीमसेन दूसरे रथपर आरूढ़ हो गये थे) कृतवमनने युद्धस्थलमें पुनः भीमसेनके घोड़ोंको मार डाला। तब घोड़ोंके, मारे जानेपर महाबली पाण्डुकुमार भीमसेन शीघ्र ही रथसे उतर पड़े और कुपित हो दण्ड उठाये कालके समान गदा लेकर उन्होंने कृतवर्माके घोड़ों तथा रथको चूर-चूर कर दिया। कृतवर्मा उस रथसे कूदकर भाग गया
sañjaya uvāca | pothayāmāsa turagān rathaṃ ca kṛtavarmaṇaḥ | kṛtavarmā tv avaplutya rathāt tasmād apākramat | (asminn antare bhīmasenaḥ anyasmin rathe samārūḍho 'bhavat) kṛtavarmā punaḥ raṇe bhīmasenasya hayān jaghāna | tataḥ hateṣu hayeṣu mahābalaḥ pāṇḍukumāro bhīmasenaḥ śīghraṃ rathād avatarat | sa kupito daṇḍam udyamya kālasadṛśo gadāṃ gṛhītvā kṛtavarmaṇaḥ hayān rathaṃ ca cūrṇayāmāsa | kṛtavarmā tu tasmād rathād utplutya palāyitaḥ |
Sañjaya said: He smashed the horses and the chariot of Kṛtavarmā. Kṛtavarmā, however, leapt down from that chariot and withdrew. (Meanwhile Bhīmasena had mounted another chariot.) Kṛtavarmā again, on the battlefield, killed Bhīma’s horses. When the horses were slain, the mighty Pāṇḍu’s son Bhīmasena quickly descended from his chariot; enraged, raising his weapon like a staff and taking up his mace like Death itself, he crushed Kṛtavarmā’s horses and chariot to pieces. Kṛtavarmā then sprang from that chariot and fled.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how battlefield choices rapidly escalate: repeated destruction of an opponent’s mobility (horses and chariot) provokes immediate, forceful retaliation. Ethically, it underscores the tension between controlled kshatriya conduct and anger-driven violence—where wrath makes a warrior act ‘like Death,’ prioritizing decisive neutralization over restraint.
Kritavarman’s chariot and horses are smashed; he jumps down and retreats. Bhima mounts another chariot, but Kritavarman again kills Bhima’s horses. Bhima then dismounts in fury, takes up his mace, and pulverizes Kritavarman’s horses and chariot, after which Kritavarman leaps away and flees.