Shloka 14
इन्द्रजिद्-लक्ष्मणयुद्धम्
Indrajit and Lakṣmaṇa: Escalation through Concealment
स भिन्नह्दयो वीरो वक्त्राच्छोणितमुद्धमन् । पपाताभिमुख: पार्थ छिन्नमूल इव द्रुम:
sa bhinnahṛdayo vīro vaktrāc choṇitam uddhaman | papātābhimukhaḥ pārtha chinnamūla iva drumaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The heroic warrior, his heart split asunder, spewing blood from his mouth, fell forward—O Pārtha—like a tree whose roots have been severed.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a vivid simile—an uprooted tree—to stress the inevitability and irreversibility of death once the vital support is destroyed. Ethically, it highlights the heavy consequence of violent action and the fragility of embodied life, themes that recur in the Mahābhārata’s reflections on dharma amid conflict.
A warrior has been mortally wounded: his heart is split, he spits blood, and he collapses forward. The narrator addresses Arjuna (Pārtha), emphasizing the immediacy of the fall and likening it to a tree toppling when its roots are cut.