Shloka 64
Gadāyuddhe Kṛṣṇopadeśaḥ (Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel in the Mace-Duel) — Śalya-parva 57
स भीमसेनाभिहतस्तवात्मज: पपात संकम्पितदेहबन्धन: । सुपुष्पितो मारुतवेगताडितो वने यथा शाल इवावघूर्णित:,भीमसेनके उस प्रहारसे आहत होकर आपके पुत्रके शरीरकी नस-नस ढीली हो गयी और वह वायुके वेगसे प्रताड़ित हो झोंके खानेवाले विकसित शालवृक्षकी भाँति काँपता हुआ पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ा
sa bhīmasenābhihatas tavātmajaḥ papāta saṅkampita-deha-bandhanaḥ | supuṣpito māruta-vega-tāḍito vane yathā śāla ivāvaghūrṇitaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Struck down by Bhīmasena, your son fell, his bodily frame shaken and loosened. Like a śāla tree in the forest—covered with blossoms yet battered by the force of the wind—he reeled and collapsed to the ground.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of worldly strength: even one who appears ‘in bloom’ with power and pride can be toppled in an instant. In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata war, it points to the inexorable consequences of adharma and the sobering cost of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīmasena has struck Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son, causing him to reel and fall. The fall is compared to a blossoming śāla tree in a forest being battered by strong winds and collapsing.