Shloka 19
भीमसेन उवाच सूताद्यैनं पश्य भीमप्रयुक्ति: संछिन्दद्धि: पार्थिवानां सुवेगै: । छन्न॑ बाणैराहवं घोररूपं नष्टादित्यं मृत्युलोकेन तुल्यम्
bhīmasena uvāca sūtādya enaṃ paśya bhīmaprayuktiḥ saṃchindaddhiḥ pārthivānāṃ suvegaiḥ | channaṃ bāṇair āhavaṃ ghorarūpaṃ naṣṭādityaṃ mṛtyulokena tulyam ||
Bhīmasena dit : «Ô Sūta, regarde à présent ce champ de bataille. Les flèches lancées par Bhīma — poussées avec une vitesse prodigieuse — abattent les rois et ont recouvert tout le terrain du combat. Le soleil lui-même est dérobé aux regards, et la terre paraît effroyable, semblable au royaume de la Mort.»
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war, even when pursued as kṣatriya-duty, rapidly turns the world into a death-like realm; it implicitly warns that martial prowess and righteous intent do not lessen the grim ethical weight and human cost of battle.
Bhīma addresses a charioteer (sūta), urging him to witness the battlefield where Bhīma’s swift arrows are felling kings and so thickly filling the sky that the sun is obscured, making the scene resemble Yama’s realm.