Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 45
Śalya–Bhīma Gadā-saṃnipāta and Śalya’s Bāṇa-jāla against Yudhiṣṭhira
Book 9, Chapter 11
अविद्धयदाचार्यसुतो नातिक्ुद्धों हसन्निव | आचार्य द्रोणके पुत्र अश्वत्थामाने अधिक क़्ुद्ध न होकर हँसते हुए-से दस-दस बाणोंद्वारा द्रौपदीके वीर पुत्रोंमेंसे प्रयेकको घायल कर दिया ।।
sañjaya uvāca | avidhyad ācāryasuto nātikruddho hasann iva | daśa-daśa-bāṇair draupadī-vīra-putrāṇāṃ pratyekaṃ vyathayām āsa || punaś ca bhīmasenasya hayān jaghāna sa hāve | aśvān hateṣu mahābāhuḥ pāṇḍuputro bhīmasenaḥ kṣipraṃ rathād avatarat | kupito daṇḍam udyamya kāla-sannibhaṃ gadāṃ gṛhītvā kṛtavarmaṇaḥ hayāṃś ca rathaṃ ca cūrṇayām āsa | kṛtavarmā tu tasmād rathāt plutyāpalāyata ||
Dijo Sañjaya: Aśvatthāmā, hijo de Droṇa, sin enfurecer en exceso y como si sonriera, hirió a cada uno de los heroicos hijos de Draupadī con diez flechas. Entretanto, Bhīmasena había subido a otro carro; en pleno fragor, Kṛtavarmā volvió a matar los caballos de Bhīma. Al verlos muertos, el poderoso Bhīma, hijo de Pāṇḍu, saltó con presteza del carro. Encolerizado, alzó su arma como vara de castigo y, empuñando su maza como la misma Muerte, hizo añicos los caballos y el carro de Kṛtavarmā. Kṛtavarmā saltó entonces de aquel carro y huyó.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how warfare tests inner discipline: Aśvatthāmā’s controlled, almost smiling precision contrasts with Bhīma’s explosive wrath. It implicitly raises an ethical tension central to kṣatriya-dharma—skill and restraint versus anger-driven retaliation—showing how emotions can rapidly intensify violence and destabilize conduct on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā wounds each of Draupadī’s sons with ten arrows. Kṛtavarmā then kills Bhīma’s horses again; Bhīma jumps down, enraged, and with a death-like mace smashes Kṛtavarmā’s horses and chariot. Kṛtavarmā escapes by leaping away and fleeing.
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