Shloka 28
भूरिश्रवसः गर्हा, प्रायोपवेशः, सात्यकिकृतशिरच्छेदः
Bhūriśravas’s Censure, Prāyopaveśa, and Sātyaki’s Beheading
तमापततन्तं सम्प्रेक्ष्य व्यादितास्यमिवान्तकम्
tam āpatatantaṃ samprekṣya vyāditāsyam ivāntakam
Sañjaya said: Seeing him rushing in—like Death itself with gaping jaws—(the warriors beheld the oncoming assailant with dread), as the battle’s violence surged toward its fatal climax.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical gravity of war: when violence is unleashed, it can assume the inevitability of death itself. The simile of Antaka reminds the listener that martial prowess and momentum, however heroic, are inseparable from mortality and the fearful consequences of adharma-driven conflict.
Sañjaya describes a warrior charging in with such terrifying force that, to onlookers, he resembles Antaka—Death with a gaping mouth—about to seize his victims. The line heightens the battlefield tension by portraying the attacker as an embodiment of imminent destruction.