Shloka 1253
ललाटे दारयामास शरेणानतपर्वणा । महाराज! तब अभश्व॒त्थामाने झुकी हुई गाँठवाले बाणसे भीमसेनके सारथिका ललाट छेद दिया
lalāṭe dārayāmāsa śareṇāntaparvaṇā | mahārāja! tad abhāśvatthāmāne jhukī huī gāṁṭhavāle bāṇase bhīmasenasya sārathikā lalāṭaṁ chittvāvidhyat |
Sañjaya said: “O King, with an arrow whose tip was hardened like iron, he split the charioteer’s forehead. In that moment, under Aśvatthāmā’s assault, Bhīmasena’s charioteer—bent low—was struck through the brow.” The verse underscores the brutal precision of battlefield violence and the moral weight borne by those who direct or enable killing, even when the immediate target is a non-royal combatant such as a charioteer.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh reality of war: even supporting figures like charioteers become targets, raising ethical tension between battlefield necessity and the ideal restraints of dharma. It invites reflection on responsibility—those who choose war must also bear the moral burden of its collateral suffering.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, amid Aśvatthāmā’s attack, an arrow with a hardened tip strikes and splits the forehead of Bhīma’s charioteer, describing a precise and lethal battlefield blow.