Shloka 47
Adhyāya 86: Irāvān’s Lineage, Cavalry Clash, and the Māyā-Duel Ending in Irāvān’s Fall
प्रेषयामास समरे यमस्य सदन प्रति । हताश्चात् तु रथात् तूर्णमवप्लुत्य महारथ:
preṣayāmāsa samare yamasya sadana prati | hatāś cāt tu rathāt tūrṇam avaplutya mahārathaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In that battle he dispatched his foes toward Yama’s abode. And then, after the slaying, the great chariot-warrior swiftly leapt down from his chariot—an image of relentless martial resolve amid the grim ethics of war, where victory is measured in lives sent to the Lord of Death.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the stark moral landscape of war: a mahāratha’s prowess ‘sends’ opponents to death, reminding the listener that martial excellence carries grave consequences and that battle inevitably points toward Yama—death as the inescapable end of embodied life.
Sañjaya narrates that a great warrior, having slain enemies in the fight (thus ‘sending them toward Yama’s abode’), then quickly jumps down from his chariot—suggesting a rapid tactical move or a transition to another action immediately after the killing.