Shloka 49
Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)
अवधीत् तावकान् योधान् दण्डपाणिरिवान्तक: । उनके इस प्रकार सब ओर खड़े होनेपर उस समय रणभूमिमें भीमसेनको बड़ा क्रोध हुआ। वे तुरंत अपने रथसे उतरकर पैदल खड़े हो गये और सोनेसे जड़ी हुई विशाल गदा हाथमें लेकर दण्डधारी यमराजके समान आपके उन योद्धाओंका संहार करने लगे || ४७-४८ $ ।। विप्रहीणरथाश्चांस्तानवधीत् पुरुषर्षभ:
avadhīt tāvakān yodhān daṇḍapāṇir ivāntakaḥ | viprahīṇarathāś cāṁs tān avadhīt puruṣarṣabhaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Like Yama, the wielder of the staff of punishment, he slew your warriors. That bull among men also struck down those whose chariots had been deprived of their drivers.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the epic’s grim ethical tension in war: once battle’s fury is unleashed, death becomes impartial and inexorable—likened to Yama—raising questions about restraint, compassion, and the limits of kṣatriya-duty amid chaos.
Sañjaya reports that the foremost warrior (Bhīma in context) is cutting down Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s fighters, even those left in disarray with driverless chariots, and his killing is compared to Death (Antaka/Yama) wielding the rod of punishment.