Shloka 54

भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः

Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas

Devanagari script

प्रतपन्तमिवादित्यं मध्यमासाद्य सेनयो: । वरान्‌ वरान्‌ विनिष्नन्तं पाण्डुपुत्रस्य सैनिकान्‌

Transliteration

pratapantam ivādityaṁ madhyam āsādya senayoḥ | varān varān viniṣṇantaṁ pāṇḍuputrasya sainikān |

Translation

ഇരുസേനകളുടെയും മദ്ധ്യത്തിലേക്ക് കടന്ന്, അവൻ കത്തുന്ന സൂര്യനെപ്പോലെ ജ്വലിച്ചു; പാണ്ഡുപുത്രന്റെ സൈന്യത്തിലെ ശ്രേഷ്ഠരായ യോദ്ധാക്കളെ വീണ്ടും വീണ്ടും വീഴ്ത്തിക്കൊണ്ടിരുന്നു।

Word by Word

प्रतपन्तम्scorching, blazing

इवlike, as if

आदित्यम्the Sun

मध्यम्the middle (center)

आसाद्यhaving reached, having come to

सेनयोःof the two armies

वरान्excellent, choice

वरान्excellent (repeated for emphasis: the very best)

विनिष्नन्तम्striking down, slaying

पाण्डुपुत्रस्यof the son of Pāṇḍu (Arjuna)

सैनिकान्soldiers

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Āditya (the Sun)

the two armies (Kaurava and Pāṇḍava forces)

Pāṇḍuputra (a Pāṇḍava)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war magnifies individual power into overwhelming destruction, prompting reflection on the ethical burden of kṣatriya combat: even when framed as duty, the reality is the repeated fall of the ‘best’ among men.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior entering the center between the two armies and, shining like the sun, repeatedly cutting down the foremost fighters among the Pāṇḍava troops.