Shloka 20
भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः
Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas
संग्रामे भीष्ममासाद्य व्यादितास्यमिवान्तकम् । निमग्ना: परलोकाय सवाजिरथकुज्जरा:
saṅgrāme bhīṣmam āsādya vyāditāsyam ivāntakam | nimagnāḥ paralokāya savājirathakuñjarāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, having encountered Bhīṣma—like Death himself with gaping jaws—the warriors, along with their horses, chariots, and elephants, were as though swallowed up, sinking toward the world beyond. The verse underscores the moral gravity of war: when a peerless fighter stands as an instrument of inevitable fate, martial pride collapses into the stark consequence of mortality.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of death in war and the ethical weight of martial action: when a formidable warrior becomes like personified Death, combatants are reminded that violence swiftly turns into irreversible consequence, dissolving pride into mortality.
Sañjaya reports that warriors who confronted Bhīṣma on the battlefield were overwhelmed as if swallowed by Death itself—falling along with their mounts and war machines (horses, chariots, elephants), suggesting massive destruction under Bhīṣma’s onslaught.