Shloka 313
भृशं चित्रमयुध्येतामलम्बुषघटोत्कचौ । फिर वे क्रमश: हाथी और सिंह तथा सूर्य और राहु बन गये। इस प्रकार वे अलम्बुष और घटोत्कच एक-दूसरेके वधकी इच्छासे सैकड़ों मायाओंकी सृष्टि करते हुए परस्पर अत्यन्त विचित्र युद्ध करने लगे
bhṛśaṃ citram ayudhyetām alambuṣa-ghaṭotkacau |
Sanjaya berkata: Alambuṣa dan Ghaṭotkaca bertempur dengan sangat ganas, dalam cara yang menakjubkan dan ganjil. Dengan hasrat saling membunuh, mereka berulang kali menciptakan ratusan wujud maya—berganti-ganti menjadi gajah dan singa, bahkan menjadi matahari dan Rāhu—hingga pertempuran mereka tampak mengherankan dan membingungkan di medan laga.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare can descend into bewildering deception and spectacle, where power is expressed through māyā (illusion) as much as through weapons. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between straightforward kṣatriya combat and tactics that obscure truth—reminding the listener that violence often breeds further distortion, fear, and moral confusion.
Sañjaya describes a fierce duel between the Rākṣasas Alambuṣa and Ghaṭotkaca. Each seeks the other’s death and repeatedly creates magical, shifting forms—likened to elephant and lion, and to the sun being eclipsed by Rāhu—making their battle extraordinarily strange and hard to comprehend.