Shloka 186
वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च
The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel
विवेश वसुधां शीघ्र॑ सुपुडख: पृथिवीपते । पृथ्वीपते! वह सुन्दर पंखोंवाला महाबाण उस राक्षसका हृदय विदीर्ण करके शीघ्र ही पृथ्वीमें समा गया ।। त॑ं हतं पतितं ज्ञात्वा धृष्टद्युम्नो महारथ:
sañjaya uvāca |
viveśa vasudhāṃ śīghraṃ supuḍakhaḥ pṛthivīpate |
pṛthivīpate! sa sundara-paṅkho mahābāṇaḥ tasya rākṣasasya hṛdayaṃ vidīrya śīghram eva pṛthivyāṃ samāgataḥ ||
taṃ hataṃ patitaṃ jñātvā dhṛṣṭadyumno mahārathaḥ ...
Sañjaya said: O lord of the earth, the arrow—broad-fletched and beautifully winged—having torn open the rākṣasa’s heart, swiftly entered the ground and disappeared into the earth. Knowing that he had been slain and had fallen, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the great chariot-warrior, (then proceeded accordingly).
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the immediacy and finality of karmic consequence in war: a single well-aimed act decisively ends a life, and the narrative voice (Sañjaya) frames it as an event witnessed and reported to the king, reminding the listener that royal decisions and the war’s momentum culminate in irreversible outcomes.
A great, beautifully fletched arrow pierces and splits the heart of an unnamed rākṣasa warrior; after killing him, the arrow swiftly sinks into the earth. Dhṛṣṭadyumna, realizing the enemy has been slain and has fallen, prepares to act next (the verse continues beyond the given line).