Shloka 58
Droṇa Encircled at Night: Coalition Advance and Battlefield Omens (द्रोणपर्यावरणं रात्रियुद्धवर्णनम्)
ततो दुःशासन: क्रुद्धो रथशक्तिं समाक्षिपत् | सर्वपारसवीं तीक्ष्णां जिघांसु: पाण्डुनन्दनम्,उस समय कुपित हुए दुःशासनने पाण्डुनन्दन भीमसेनको मार डालनेकी इच्छासे उनके ऊपर एक तीखी रथशक्ति चलायी, जो सम्पूर्णतः लोहेकी बनी हुई थी
tato duḥśāsanaḥ kruddho rathaśaktiṁ samākṣipat | sarvapārasavīṁ tīkṣṇāṁ jighāṁsuḥ pāṇḍunandanam |
Sañjaya said: Then Duḥśāsana, inflamed with anger, hurled a sharp ratha-śakti—an iron missile forged wholly of metal—at the son of Pāṇḍu, intent on killing him. The moment underscores how wrath in battle drives warriors toward lethal, uncompromising acts, eclipsing restraint and right conduct.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger (krodha) can dominate judgment and propel a person toward extreme harm. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such rage-driven intent to kill is a warning about the erosion of self-control and dharmic restraint, even amid legitimate warfare.
Duḥśāsana, furious, launches a sharp iron ratha-śakti at Pāṇḍu’s son—understood here as Bhīma—aiming to kill him. It is a battlefield escalation described by Sañjaya during the Drona Parva fighting.