Shloka 45
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
ईशानहेतो: प्रतिनिर्मितां तां त्वष्टा रिपूणामसुदेहभक्ष्याम् । भूम्यन्तरिक्षादिजलाशयानि प्रसहा भूतानि निहन्तुमीशाम्,त्वष्टा प्रजापति (विश्वकर्मा)-ने भगवान् शंकरके लिये उस शक्तिका निर्माण किया था। वह शत्रुओंके प्राण और शरीरको अपना ग्रास बना लेनेवाली थी तथा जल, थल एवं आकाश आदियमें रहनेवाले प्राणियोंको भी बलपूर्वक मार डालनेमें समर्थ थी
īśāna-hetoḥ pratinirmitāṃ tāṃ tvaṣṭā ripūṇām asu-deha-bhakṣyām | bhūmy-antarikṣādi-jalāśayāni prasahā bhūtāni nihantum īśām ||
Sañjaya said: For the sake of Īśāna (Śiva), Tvaṣṭṛ (Prajāpati, Viśvakarman) fashioned that power anew. It was a force that would devour the enemies’ very life-breath and bodies, and it was capable of violently destroying beings dwelling on land, in the sky, and in waters. The verse underscores the terrifying, indiscriminate reach of divinely engineered weapon-power in war, raising an ethical tension between sanctioned protection and uncontrolled devastation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how divinely sanctioned power, once unleashed, can become vast and indiscriminate—capable of consuming life itself across all realms (land, sky, water). It implicitly warns that even ‘legitimate’ force in war carries ethical risk when its scope exceeds discrimination and restraint.
Sañjaya describes a formidable power/weapon crafted by the divine artisan Tvaṣṭṛ for the sake of Śiva (Īśāna). This force is portrayed as able to devour enemies’ life-breath and bodies and to destroy beings everywhere—on earth, in the atmosphere, and in waters—emphasizing its overwhelming, world-spanning lethality.