Shloka 5
भीष्मवधोपाय-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into the means to overcome Bhīṣma) | Chapter 103
यमदण्डोपमान् घोसग्ज्वलिताशीविषोपमान् | सौभद्र: समरे क्रुद्ध: प्रेषयामाससायकान्,सुभद्राकुमार समरांगणमें क़ुद्ध होकर यमदण्डके समान घोर तथा प्रज्वलित मुखवाले विषधर सर्पोके समान भयंकर सायकोंका प्रहार कर रहा था
yamadaṇḍopamān ghorān jvalitāśīviṣopamān | saubhadraḥ samare kruddhaḥ preṣayāmāsa sāyakān ||
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, the son of Subhadrā—his wrath fully aroused—kept launching arrows that were dreadful like Yama’s rod of punishment, and terrifying like venomous serpents with flaming mouths. The verse underscores the moral gravity of war: martial prowess here is portrayed as an instrument of inexorable retribution, where anger and duty converge on the battlefield’s harsh necessity.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield violence within a moral universe: Abhimanyu’s arrows are compared to Yama’s punitive rod, suggesting inevitability and consequence. It also warns how wrath (krodha) intensifies destructive power, even when exercised in the context of a dharma-bound war.
Sañjaya narrates that Abhimanyu (Saubhadra), enraged in combat, is repeatedly discharging fearsome arrows. The poet heightens the scene through similes—death’s rod and blazing venomous serpents—to convey the terror and force of his attack.