Shloka 31
प्रतापी भरद्वाजनन्दनने पुनः पूर्ववत् कुपित होकर एक भल््लके द्वारा वसुदानका मस्तक धड़से अलग कर दिया ।। पुन: पठ्चशतान् मत्स्यान् षघट्सहस्रांश्ष संजयान् । हस्तिनामयुतं हत्वा जघानाश्वायुतं पुन:,इसके बाद मत्स्यदेशके पचास योद्धाओंका, सृंजयवंशके छः: हजार सैनिकोंका तथा दस हजार हाथियोंका संहार करके उन्होंने पुन: दस हजार घुड़सवारोंकी सेनाका सफाया कर दिया
sañjaya uvāca | pratāpī bhāradvājanandanaḥ punaḥ pūrvavat kupito bhūtvā ekena bhallakena vasudānasya mastakaṃ dharāt pṛthak cakāra | punaḥ pañcaśatān matsyān ṣaṭsahasrāṇi sṛñjayān | hastinām ayutaṃ hatvā jaghānāśvāyutaṃ punaḥ ||
Sanjaya said: The valiant son of Bharadvāja, once again enraged as before, severed Vasudāna’s head from his body with a single broad-headed arrow. Thereafter he slew five hundred warriors of the Matsya country, six thousand men of the Sṛñjayas, and ten thousand elephants; and again he destroyed ten thousand horsemen. The passage underscores the terrifying momentum of battlefield wrath—heroic prowess displayed through mass slaughter, raising the ethical tension between martial duty and the human cost of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger on the battlefield amplifies destruction: martial excellence (kṣatriya prowess) is shown, yet the narrative simultaneously foregrounds the moral weight and tragic scale of war, inviting reflection on duty versus the cost of violence.
Sanjaya reports that Droṇa, enraged, beheads the warrior Vasudāna with a single bhallaka arrow, then continues a devastating rampage, killing large numbers among the Matsyas and Sṛñjayas and annihilating masses of elephants and horsemen.