Shloka 55
मेदोरुधिरदिग्धाड़ो वसामज्जासमुक्षित: । व्यचरत् समरे भीमो दण्डपाणिरिवान्तक:,भीमसेनका सारा शरीर मेदा तथा रक्तसे लिए हो रहा था। वे वसा और मज्जासे नहा गये थे और हाथमें गदा लिये दण्डपाणि यमराजके समान उस युद्धभूमिमें विचर रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca | medorudhiradigdhāṅgo vasāmajjāsamukṣitaḥ | vyacarat samare bhīmo daṇḍapāṇir ivāntakaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Smeared with fat and blood, drenched as though bathed in marrow and grease, Bhīma moved about the battlefield—mace in hand—like Antaka, the bringer of death, wielding the rod of punishment. The verse heightens the moral gravity of war: when dharma collapses into slaughter, the warrior becomes an instrument of retribution, terrifying in form and consequence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical weight of warfare: when battle turns into mass killing, the warrior’s role can resemble punitive cosmic justice (daṇḍa). It evokes the idea that adharma invites terrifying retribution, and that violence, even when duty-bound, carries a grim moral atmosphere.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīma is roaming the battlefield in a fearsome state—his body smeared with blood and fat, soaked in grease and marrow—brandishing his weapon and appearing like Yama (Antaka), the personification of death and punishment.