Shloka 112
प्रतिहत्य तु तां मायां दिव्येनास्त्रेण राक्षसीम् । आजपघान हयानस्य शरै: संनतपर्वभि:,अपने दिव्यास्त्रसे उस राक्षसी मायाका विनाश करके उसने झुकी हुई गाँठवाले बाणोंसे घटोत्कचके घोड़ोंको मार डाला
pratihatya tu tāṁ māyāṁ divyenāstreṇa rākṣasīm | ājaghāna hayān asya śaraiḥ saṁnataparvabhiḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Ayant paré et détruit cette illusion de la rākṣasī au moyen d’une arme divine, il abattit ensuite les chevaux de Ghaṭotkaca avec des flèches aux jointures recourbées. Ainsi, dans la pression de la guerre, la tromperie surnaturelle se voit opposer une habileté plus haute et des armes consacrées, et le combat se tourne vers l’entrave de la mobilité ennemie plutôt que vers la seule démonstration de puissance.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
In the Mahābhārata’s war ethic, deceptive power (māyā) is not met by panic or equal deceit alone, but by disciplined mastery of higher means (divya astra) and by practical strategy—here, disabling the opponent’s movement by killing the horses—so that force is directed toward ending the threat efficiently.
Sañjaya reports that after a rākṣasī illusion is neutralized with a divine weapon, the warrior immediately follows up by shooting down Ghaṭotkaca’s horses with specially described arrows, shifting the fight from magical spectacle to tactical advantage on the battlefield.