Shloka 23
भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः
Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas
गदाभिभिंन्दिपालैश्न निशितैश्व शिलीमुखै: । अनुकर्षैरुपासड्ड श्षक्रैर्भग्नैश्ष मारिष
gadābhir bhindipālaiś ca niśitaiś ca śilīmukhaiḥ | anukarṣair upāsadya śastrair bhagnaiś ca māriṣa ||
संजय म्हणाला—हे पूज्य! ते गदा, भिन्दिपाल आणि तीक्ष्ण शिलीमुख बाणांनी प्रहार करीत, अनुकर्ष-उपासंग इत्यादी शस्त्रांनी दडपण आणीत—तुटलेल्या शस्त्रांच्या गोंधळातही—त्याच्यावर तुटून पडले.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the brutal immediacy of war: when combatants abandon restraint, weapons and bodies alike are broken. Implicitly it highlights the ethical weight of kṣatriya conflict—valor and duty unfold amid suffering and destruction.
Sañjaya describes a close-quarters assault in which fighters rush in and strike with multiple weapons—maces, heavy darts, and sharp arrows—pressing the opponent hard, with weapons breaking in the intensity of the fight.