Shloka 256
जयद्रथवधः — The Slaying of Jayadratha
Sunset Vow and Curse-Condition
केषां वैवस्वतो राजा स्मरतेड्द्य महाभुज । युद्धमें काल, अन्तक और यमके समान पराक्रम दिखानेवाले आप-जैसे बल- विक्रमसम्पन्न वीरको देखकर आज कौन-कौन-से योद्धा मैदान छोड़कर भागनेवाले हैं? महाबाहो! आज राजा यम किनका स्मरण कर रहे हैं?
keṣāṃ vaivasvato rājā smaratedya mahābhuja | yuddhe me kāla-antaka-yama-samāna-parākramaṃ darśayantaṃ tvādṛśaṃ bala-vikrama-sampannaṃ vīraṃ dṛṣṭvā adya ke ke yoddhā raṇaṃ tyaktvā palāyiṣyante? mahābāho! adya rājā yamaḥ keṣāṃ smaraṇaṃ karoti?
Sūta berkata: “Wahai yang berlengan perkasa, nama siapakah yang sedang diingat Vaivasvata—Raja Yama—pada hari ini? Melihat seorang pahlawan sepertimu, yang kaya kekuatan dan kegagahan, yang di medan perang menampakkan keberanian laksana Kala, Sang Pemusnah, dan Yama sendiri—prajurit mana yang hari ini akan meninggalkan gelanggang dan lari?”
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses Yama (death and moral order) as a rhetorical mirror for the battlefield: overwhelming martial prowess makes death feel imminent, exposing fear and testing the kṣatriya duty to stand firm rather than abandon the fight.
The narrator (Sūta) addresses a mighty warrior, praising his terrifying power by likening it to Kāla, Antaka, and Yama, and asks which fighters will lose heart and flee—framing the moment as one where death seems to ‘remember’ certain men.