Shloka 140
वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च
The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel
शक्ती: शतघ्नी: परिघानशनी: शूलपट्टिशान्,समरांगणमें किसीसे भी न डरनेवाले तथा क्रोधसे लाल नेत्रोंवाले भयंकर पराक्रमी सैकड़ों और हजारों राक्षस अश्वत्थामाके मस्तकपर शक्ति, शतघ्नी, परिघ, अशनि, शूल, पट्टिश, खड़ग, गदा, भिन्दिपाल, मुसल, फरसे, प्रास, कटार, तोमर, कणप, तीखे कम्पन, मोटे-मोटे पत्थर, भुशुण्डी, गदा, काले लोहेके खंभे तथा शत्रुओंको विदीर्ण करनेमें समर्थ महाघोर मुद्गरोंकी वर्षा करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | śaktīḥ śataghnīḥ parighān aśanīḥ śūla-paṭṭiśān samara-aṅgaṇe kasyacid api na bibhyataḥ krodhena lohita-netrā bhayankarāḥ parākrama-vantaḥ saikadāḥ sahasraśaś ca rākṣasā aśvatthāmnaḥ mastake śakti-śataghnī-parigha-aśani-śūla-paṭṭiśa-khaḍga-gadā-bhindipāla-muśala-paraśu-prāsa-kaṭāra-tomara-kaṇapa-tīkṣṇa-kampana-sthūla-aśma-bhuśuṇḍī-gadā-kṛṣṇa-loha-stambha-śatru-vidāraṇa-samarthān mahā-ghorān mudgarānāṃ varṣaṃ prāvarṣayan |
Sañjaya said: Then hundreds and thousands of fearsome, mighty rākṣasas—undaunted by anyone on the battlefield and with eyes reddened by wrath—began to rain down upon Aśvatthāmā’s head a storm of weapons: spears and javelins, heavy missiles and iron clubs, tridents and battle-axes, swords and maces, bhindipālas and pestles, hatchets and lances, daggers and tomaras, sharp and trembling projectiles, massive stones, bhuśuṇḍīs, black iron pillars, and exceedingly dreadful hammers capable of tearing enemies apart. The scene underscores how rage and violence multiply into indiscriminate destruction, turning the field of dharma into a spectacle of escalating cruelty.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger (krodha) fuels fearlessness that is not virtue but recklessness, producing indiscriminate violence. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such escalation warns that when wrath governs action, the battlefield becomes a place where dharma is obscured and suffering multiplies.
Sañjaya describes a massed assault: countless rākṣasas, red-eyed with rage and unafraid in combat, shower Aśvatthāmā with a torrent of diverse weapons—spears, axes, swords, maces, stones, iron pillars, and heavy hammers—creating an overwhelming ‘rain’ of missiles aimed at his head.