Shloka 12
Bhagadatta’s Astra and the Fall of the Prāgjyotiṣa King (भगदत्त-वधः / वैष्णवास्त्र-प्रसङ्गः)
ततो धनंजयो बाणै: सवनिव महारथान् । आयाद् विनिषघ्नन् कौरव्यान् दहन् कक्षमिवानल:,तत्पश्चात् जैसे अग्नि घास-फूँसके समूहको जला डालती है, उसी प्रकार अर्जुन अपने बाणोंद्वारा समस्त कौरव महारथियोंको क्षत-विक्षत करते हुए वहाँ आ पहुँचे
tato dhanañjayo bāṇaiḥ savanīva mahārathān | āyād viniṣghnan kauravyān dahan kakṣam ivānalaḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Alors Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) arriva là, et de ses flèches il abattit et mit en pièces les grands guerriers de char des Kaurava, les brûlant comme le feu dévore les broussailles sèches.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overwhelming force of a warrior acting within the battlefield’s code: Arjuna’s skill becomes as inexorable as fire. Ethically, it points to the grim reality that even ‘righteous’ war (dharma-yuddha) entails massive destruction, and that power used for duty still carries a heavy moral and emotional weight.
Sañjaya narrates that Arjuna advances into the fray and, with volleys of arrows, wounds and fells the Kaurava elite chariot-fighters. The comparison to fire consuming brushwood conveys speed, inevitability, and the scale of devastation.