Shloka 23
Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation
अथापरेण भल््लेन कुण्डधारं महारथम् | प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय सर्वलोकस्य पश्यत:,भीमसेनसे पराजित हुए अपराजितका मस्तक धरतीपर जा गिरा। तत्पश्चात् भीमसेनने एक-दूसरे भल्ल्लके द्वारा सब लोगोंके देखते-देखते महारथी कुण्डधारको यमराजके लोकमें भेज दिया
sañjaya uvāca |
athāpareṇa bhallena kuṇḍadhāraṃ mahāratham |
prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya sarvalokasya paśyataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then, with another sharp arrow, Bhīmasena struck down Kuṇḍadhāra, the great chariot-warrior, sending him to the realm of Death before the eyes of all. The scene underscores the Mahābhārata’s stark war-ethic: prowess and resolve decide life and death in battle, while public witnessing magnifies both glory and the tragic cost of violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the uncompromising reality of dharma in war: a kṣatriya battle is decisive and public, where skill and fate culminate in death, reminding the listener of the grave moral weight and cost of violence even amid sanctioned duty.
Sañjaya narrates that a great warrior named Kuṇḍadhāra is struck down by another sharp arrow and is ‘sent to mṛtyuloka’—killed—before everyone watching on the battlefield.