Shloka 7
इन्द्रजिद्-लक्ष्मणयुद्धम्
Indrajit and Lakṣmaṇa: Escalation through Concealment
गजं तु सगजारोहं पदातींश्व चतुर्दश । जघान गदया भीम: सैन्धवध्वजिनीमुखे,उन्होंने जयद्रथकी सेनाके मुहानेपर जाकर अपनी गदाकी चोटसे सवारसहित एक हाथी और चौदह पैदलोंको मार डाला
gajaṃ tu sagajārohaṃ padātīṃś ca caturdaśa | jaghāna gadayā bhīmaḥ saindhavadhvajinīmukhe ||
Vaiśampāyana said: At the very front of Jayadratha’s army, Bhīma struck down with his mace an elephant together with its rider, and fourteen foot-soldiers. The scene underscores Bhīma’s fierce resolve in battle—directed not by cruelty for its own sake, but by the grim necessities of war and the duty to break the enemy’s advance.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-duty in a battlefield context: decisive force is employed to halt an enemy formation. Ethically, it reflects the epic’s tension between compassion and the harsh obligations of war—violence is portrayed as instrumental to protecting one’s side and fulfilling vowed responsibility, not as an end in itself.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Bhīma, reaching the forefront of Jayadratha’s forces, uses his mace to kill an elephant along with its rider and fourteen infantrymen, thereby breaking into or checking the enemy’s front line.