Shloka 33
भीष्मरक्षण-उद्योगः, शिखण्डि-विवर्जनं, सर्वतोभद्र-व्यूहः
Protection of Bhīṣma, Exemption of Śikhaṇḍin, and the Sarvatobhadra Array
आशीविषा इव क्रुद्धा: पर्वते गन्धमादने । उसने अत्यन्त तीखे पचीस नाराच छोड़े। महाराज! वे सब सहसा उस राक्षसराज घटोत्कचपर जाकर गिरे, मानो गन्धमादन पर्वतपर क्रोधमें भरे हुए विषधर सर्प कहींसे आ पड़े हों,आचार्यस्यार्धचन्द्रेण क्रुद्धश्चिच्छेद कार्मुकम् । सोमदत्तस्य भल्लेन ध्वजं चोन्मथ्य चानदत् तदनन्तर महाबाहु राक्षसराज घटोत्कचने अत्यन्त क़ुद्ध हो भैरव गर्जना करते हुए अपने विशाल धनुषको खींचकर अर्धचन्द्राकार बाणसे द्रोणाचार्यके धनुषको काट डाला। फिर एक भल््लके द्वारा सोमदत्तके धवजको खण्डित करके सिंहनाद किया
āśīviṣā iva kruddhāḥ parvate gandhamādane | ācāryasyārdhacandreṇa kruddhaś ciccheda kārmukam | somadattasya bhallena dhvajaṃ conmathya cānadat |
Sañjaya said: “Like enraged venomous serpents on Mount Gandhamādana, the arrows fell with sudden, deadly force. Then the mighty Ghaṭotkaca, blazing with wrath and roaring fiercely, drew his great bow and with a crescent-headed shaft cut down Droṇācārya’s bow. With another broad-headed arrow he struck down Somadatta’s banner, and then he let out a lion-like shout.” In the ethical frame of the epic, the verse heightens the terror and momentum of battle: prowess and rage surge, while the destruction of bow and banner signals the shattering of a warrior’s capacity and morale—an outward sign of the inner collapse that war can impose.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how, in war, the loss of key instruments (a bow) and symbols (a banner) can break capability and morale; it also cautions that rage-powered prowess, though effective, intensifies the cycle of violence central to the epic’s moral tension.
Sañjaya describes Ghaṭotkaca’s furious counterattack: his arrows descend like venomous snakes; he severs Droṇa’s bow with a crescent-headed shaft, then knocks down Somadatta’s banner with a broad-headed arrow and roars in triumph.