Shloka 26
Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation
विशालाक्षशिरश्छित्त्वा पातयामास भूतले । त्रिभि: शरैरदीनात्मा स्मरन् क्लेशं पुरातनम्,उसके बाद उदार हृदयवाले भीमने अपने पूर्व-क्लेशोंका स्मरण करके तीन बाणोंद्वारा विशालाक्षके मस्तकको काटकर धरतीपर गिरा दिया
viśālākṣaśiraś chittvā pātayāmāsa bhūtale | tribhiḥ śarair adīnātmā smaran kleśaṃ purātanam ||
Sañjaya said: Recalling the hardships of old, the undaunted warrior struck down Viśālākṣa—severing his head with three arrows—and cast it upon the earth. The act is framed as a grim consequence of past suffering, where memory of injury fuels relentless resolve amid the duties and cruelties of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how remembrance of past suffering can harden resolve in the performance of one’s perceived duty; in the war-ethic of the epic, personal memory and grievance become forces that intensify action, reminding readers that violence often carries a psychological history and moral weight.
Sañjaya reports that Bhīma, recalling earlier hardships, strikes Viśālākṣa with three arrows, severs his head, and brings it down to the ground—an emphatic battlefield killing described in stark, martial imagery.