Shloka 60
तदनन्तर युधिष्छिरने इन्द्रधनुषके समान कान्तिमान् दूसरा धनुष लेकर सर्पोका संहार करनेवाले गरुड़की भाँति युद्धस्थलमें तीखे भल्लोंद्वारा शत्रुओंके शरीरोंका नाश करते हुए क्षणभरमें उन सबका विध्वंस कर दिया ।। ततः पार्थस्य बाणौघैरावृता: सैनिकास्तव । निमीलिताक्षा: क्षिण्वन्तो भृशमन्योन्यमर्दिता:
tad-anantaraṁ yudhiṣṭhireṇa indra-dhanuṣka-samāna-kāntimān dvitīyaṁ dhanuḥ gṛhītvā sarpa-saṁhāra-kṛd garuḍa iva raṇa-bhūmau tīkṣṇair bhallaiḥ śatrūṇāṁ śarīrāṇāṁ nāśaṁ kurvan kṣaṇa-mātreṇa tān sarvān vidhvaṁsayām āsa || tataḥ pārthasya bāṇaughair āvṛtāḥ sainikās tava | nimīlitākṣāḥ kṣiṇvantaḥ bhṛśam anyonyam arditāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Thereafter Yudhiṣṭhira, taking up another bow radiant like a rainbow, moved on the battlefield like Garuḍa who destroys serpents. With sharp broad-headed arrows he struck down the bodies of his foes and, in but a moment, brought about the ruin of them all. Then your soldiers, covered over by torrents of Pārtha’s arrows, their eyes half-closed, were grievously afflicted and weakened, pressing and crushing one another in panic.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the harsh dharma of kṣatriya warfare: when battle is joined, decisive action and steadfastness are demanded, while panic and disorder (soldiers crushing one another) become a moral and practical collapse. It also highlights how poetic imagery (Garuḍa vs. serpents) frames righteous force as swift and overwhelming.
Sañjaya describes Yudhiṣṭhira taking up a radiant bow and rapidly destroying enemies with sharp arrows. Immediately after, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s troops are depicted as engulfed by Arjuna’s arrow-storm, weakened and disoriented, crowding and crushing each other amid the chaos.