Shloka 185
वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च
The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel
स भित्त्वा हृदयं तस्य राक्षसस्य महाशर:
sa bhittvā hṛdayaṃ tasya rākṣasasya mahāśaraḥ
Sañjaya said: That mighty arrow, piercing the heart of the rākṣasa, struck with decisive force—an image of the war’s ruthless finality, where valor and violence meet in a single, irreversible moment.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The line underscores the stark ethical tension of dharma-yuddha: even when battle is framed as duty, its outcomes are irrevocable and lethal. It invites reflection on responsibility for action and the gravity of violence, rather than celebrating killing as an end in itself.
Sañjaya narrates a battlefield moment in which a powerful arrow pierces the heart of a rākṣasa warrior, indicating a decisive, likely fatal strike within the ongoing combat of the Droṇa Parva.