Shloka 3536
Chapter 12: Arjuna’s suppression of the Saṃśaptakas and duel with Aśvatthāmā
Drauṇi
निपपात महेष्वासो वज्जाहत इवाचल: । राजन! इस प्रकार महायुद्धमें दो टुकड़ोंमें कटा हुआ कवचसहित महाथनुर्धर केकयराज वच्जके मारे हुए पर्वतके समान गिर पड़ा
nipapāta maheṣvāso vajrāhata ivācalaḥ | rājan! iti prakāraṃ mahāyuddhe dvi-ṭukḍeṣu chinnaḥ kavaca-sahitaḥ mahā-dhanurdharaḥ kekaya-rājaḥ vajrake māritaḥ parvata iva nipapāta |
Sañjaya dijo: «Oh rey, así, en aquella gran batalla, el poderoso arquero —el rey de Kekaya— cayó, aún revestido de armadura, partido en dos, como una montaña abatida por un rayo».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the stark impermanence of martial glory: even a heavily armored, renowned archer can be destroyed in an instant. Ethically, it functions as a sobering reminder of the cost of war and the fragility of embodied power, even when exercised under the banner of kṣatriya-dharma.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, amid the great battle, the Kekaya king—an eminent bowman—has been cut into two and falls to the ground, compared to a mountain felled by a thunderbolt.