Shloka 55
द्रोणविक्रमदर्शनम् / The Display of Droṇa’s Onslaught and the Debate on Pāṇḍava Regrouping
शिखण्डिनं द्वादशभिवविंशत्या चोत्तमौजसम् । वसुदानं च भल्लेन प्रैषयद् यमसादनम्,उन्होंने शिखण्डीको बारह और उत्तमौजाको बीस बाणोंसे घायल करके वसुदानको एक ही भल्लसे मारकर यमलोक भेज दिया
sañjaya uvāca | śikhaṇḍinaṃ dvādaśabhir viṃśatyā cottamaujasaṃ | vasudānaṃ ca bhallena praiṣayad yamasādanam ||
Sañjaya said: He struck Śikhaṇḍin with twelve arrows and Uttamaujā with twenty; and with a single broad-headed shaft he slew Vasudāna, sending him to Yama’s abode. The verse underscores the grim moral weight of battlefield prowess—skill and resolve here manifest as swift, irreversible consequences for embodied life.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of war: martial excellence can decide life and death in an instant, reminding the listener that actions in battle carry irreversible consequences and that the epic’s dharma-discourse unfolds amid such stark realities.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield episode where a warrior wounds Śikhaṇḍin with twelve arrows and Uttamaujā with twenty, then kills Vasudāna with a single bhalla arrow, metaphorically ‘sending’ him to Yama’s realm.