Shloka 13
Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation
(चचार युधि राजेन्द्र भीमो भीमपराक्रम: । सुनाभस्तव पुत्रो वै भीमसेनमुपाद्रवत् ।। जघान निशितैर्बाणैर्भीमं विव्याध सप्तभि: । भीमसेन: सुसंक्रुद्ध: शरेण नतपर्वणा ।।) सुनाभस्य शरेणाशु शिरकश्षिच्छेद भारत । क्षुरप्रेण सुतीक्ष्णेन स हतो न्यपतद् भुवि,राजेन्द्र! भयंकर पराक्रमी भीमसेन युद्धमें सब ओर विचरने लगे। उस समय आपके पुत्र सुनाभने भीमसेनपर धावा किया और उन्हें सात तीखे बाणोंसे बींध डाला। भारत! तब भीमसेनने भी अत्यन्त कुपित होकर झुकी हुई गाँठवाले क्षुरप्र नामक बाणसे शीघ्र ही सुनाभका सिर काट दिया। उस तीखे क्षुरप्रसे मारा जाकर वह पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ा
sañjaya uvāca | cacāra yudhi rājendra bhīmo bhīmaparākramaḥ | sunābhastava putro vai bhīmasenamupādravat || jaghāna niśitairbāṇairbhīmaṃ vivyādha saptabhiḥ | bhīmasenaḥ susaṃkruddhaḥ śareṇa nataparvaṇā || sunābhasya śareṇāśu śiraskaśchiccheda bhārata | kṣurapreṇa sutīkṣṇena sa hato nyapatad bhuvi ||
Sañjaya said: O king, Bhīma of dreadful prowess ranged about the battlefield. Then your son Sunābha rushed at Bhīmasena and pierced him with seven sharp arrows. Enraged, Bhīmasena swiftly severed Sunābha’s head with a razor-edged, keenly whetted arrow with a bent joint. Struck down by that terrible shaft, Sunābha fell upon the earth. The passage underscores the grim reciprocity of war: aggression is met with immediate, proportionate—and often escalated—violence, revealing how wrath and martial duty can eclipse compassion on the field of dharma-yuddha.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh moral atmosphere of war: once combat is joined, anger and duty drive swift retaliation. It implicitly warns how quickly violence escalates—an ethical reminder that even in a dharma-framed battle, wrath (krodha) can dominate and lead to irreversible outcomes.
On the battlefield, Bhīma moves about striking foes. Sunābha, a son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, charges and wounds Bhīma with seven sharp arrows. Bhīma, enraged, responds immediately by cutting off Sunābha’s head with a razor-like kṣurapra arrow, and Sunābha falls dead to the ground.