Shloka 22
अध्याय ८८ — घटोत्कच-दुर्योधनयुद्धवर्णनम्
Ghaṭotkaca–Duryodhana Engagement
प्रेक्षस्व भीष्म॑ युधि भीमवेगं सर्वास्तपन्तं मम सैन्यसंघान् । शरौघजालैरतितिग्मवेगै: काल॑ यथा कालकृतं क्षणेन
sañjaya uvāca |
prekṣasva bhīṣma yudhi bhīmavegaṃ sarvāstapantaṃ mama sainyasaṃghān |
śaraughajālair atitigmravegaiḥ kālaṃ yathā kālakṛtaṃ kṣaṇena ||
Sañjaya dit : «Vois donc, dans la bataille, l’élan terrible de Bhīma : comme il brûle et tourmente toutes les divisions de mon armée. Par des filets d’averses de flèches, lancées à la vitesse tranchante du rasoir, il est tel Kāla (le Temps, la Mort) lui-même, qui, lorsque l’heure est venue, anéantit les êtres incarnés en un instant.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical vision that in war—even when fought under dharma’s constraints—human power is fragile before Kāla (Time/Death). Martial prowess appears overwhelming, yet it functions within an inescapable order of destiny and impermanence.
Sañjaya reports to (and addresses) Bhīṣma, urging him to observe the battlefield: a warrior (described as bhīmavega) is tormenting the Kaurava forces with dense, swift arrow-showers, likened to Death arriving at the appointed time and destroying beings in a moment.