Shloka 583
विचचार महाकायो मोहयन्निव भारत । कुरुश्रेष्ठ! भरतनन्दन! वह विशालकाय महामायावी भीमसेनकुमार घटोत्कच मायासे सबको मोहित करता हुआ-सा सब ओर विचरने लगा
vicacāra mahākāyo mohayann iva bhārata | kuruśreṣṭha bharatanandana sa viśālakāyo mahāmāyāvī bhīmasenakumāra ghaṭotkacaḥ māyayā sarvān mohayann iva sarvato vicarituṃ pracakrame |
Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata—O best of the Kurus, O joy of the Bharatas—Ghaṭotkaca, the son of Bhīmasena, vast of body and a master of great illusion, began to roam on every side, as though bewildering all the warriors by his magical power. In the moral atmosphere of the war, his māyā becomes a tactical force: it disrupts perception and order on the battlefield, testing the combatants’ steadiness and discernment amid chaos.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how māyā (illusion) can function as a battlefield power that destabilizes perception and order. Ethically, it underscores that in war, victory is not only physical but also mental—steadiness, discernment, and composure become crucial virtues when confusion is deliberately induced.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Ghaṭotkaca—gigantic and skilled in magical illusion—moves about on all sides of the battlefield, seemingly confounding all the fighters through his māyā.