Shloka 523
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
सुपर्वा पर्वतपतिर्निन्ये वैवस्वतक्षयम् । यह देख जिनके अंगोंकी जोड़ सुन्दर है उन पर्वतराज भगदत्तने झुकी हुई गाँठवाले बाणके द्वारा रुचिपर्वाको यमलोक पहुँचा दिया
sañjaya uvāca | suparvā parvatapatir ninye vaivasvatakṣayam |
Sañjaya said: Suparvā, the lord of the mountains, sent (his foe) to Vaivasvata’s abode—Yama’s realm. Thus, in the relentless tide of battle, a warrior’s prowess becomes the immediate instrument of death, reminding the listener that violence in war, though sanctioned by the kṣatriya code, still culminates in the same moral gravity of taking life.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when warfare is framed within kṣatriya-dharma, its immediate outcome is death and passage to Yama’s realm; the verse underscores the grave ethical weight of violence and the inevitability of mortality.
Sañjaya reports that Suparvā, described as a ‘mountain-lord,’ kills his opponent—figuratively ‘sending’ him to Vaivasvata (Yama), i.e., to the realm of death—during the fighting in Droṇa Parva.