Shloka 24
मनुष्यसमतां ज्ञात्वा सप्त संधाय सायकान् । तेभ्यो व्यसृजदायस्त: सूर्यरश्मिनिभान् प्रभु:,महाराज! तब कुन्तीकुमार पाण्डुपुत्र भीमने अत्यन्त स्वच्छ धनुषको सुदृढ़ मुदट्टीसे वेगपूर्वक दबाकर उन सातों भाइयोंको साधारण मनुष्य जानकर उनके लिये धनुषपर सात बाणोंका संधान किया। सूर्यकिरणोंके समान उन चमकीले बाणोंको शक्तिशाली भीमने परिश्रमपूर्वक आपके उन पुत्रोंपर छोड़ दिया
manuṣya-samatāṁ jñātvā sapta sandhāya sāyakān | tebhyo vyasṛjad āyastaḥ sūrya-raśmi-nibhān prabhuḥ, mahārāja |
Sañjaya said: O King, judging them to be no more than ordinary men, the mighty Bhīma swiftly set seven arrows to his bow and, with strenuous force, released those radiant shafts—like the rays of the sun—against your sons. The scene underscores the grim ethic of war: prowess and resolve, not birth or claim, decide the moment on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
In the battlefield frame of the Mahābhārata, the verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in its stark form: decisive action and martial competence govern outcomes, and opponents are treated as combatants rather than as untouchable by status or sentiment.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīma, deeming the opposing group as ordinary men, nocks seven arrows and shoots them—bright like sunrays—toward the king’s sons (the Kauravas) in the midst of the Drona Parva battle.