Shloka 5
भीष्मवधोपाय-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into the means to overcome Bhīṣma) | Chapter 103
यमदण्डोपमान् घोसग्ज्वलिताशीविषोपमान् | सौभद्र: समरे क्रुद्ध: प्रेषयामाससायकान्,सुभद्राकुमार समरांगणमें क़ुद्ध होकर यमदण्डके समान घोर तथा प्रज्वलित मुखवाले विषधर सर्पोके समान भयंकर सायकोंका प्रहार कर रहा था
yamadaṇḍopamān ghorān jvalitāśīviṣopamān | saubhadraḥ samare kruddhaḥ preṣayāmāsa sāyakān ||
Dijo Sañjaya: En lo más recio de la batalla, el hijo de Subhadrā—con la ira plenamente encendida—no dejaba de lanzar flechas terribles como la vara de castigo de Yama, y espantosas como serpientes venenosas de boca llameante.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield violence within a moral universe: Abhimanyu’s arrows are compared to Yama’s punitive rod, suggesting inevitability and consequence. It also warns how wrath (krodha) intensifies destructive power, even when exercised in the context of a dharma-bound war.
Sañjaya narrates that Abhimanyu (Saubhadra), enraged in combat, is repeatedly discharging fearsome arrows. The poet heightens the scene through similes—death’s rod and blazing venomous serpents—to convey the terror and force of his attack.