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 berkata: Lalu Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) datang ke sana, menghantam dan meremukkan para maharathi Kaurava dengan anak panahnya—membakar mereka laksana api melalap semak kering.
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.