Shloka 15

भीष्मस्य जलप्रार्थना — अर्जुनस्य पर्जन्यास्त्रप्रयोगः — दुर्योधनं प्रति सन्ध्युपदेशः

Bhīṣma’s request for water; Arjuna’s Parjanya-astra; counsel to Duryodhana on reconciliation

Devanagari script

सैन्धवस्य तथाश्रांश्व॒ सारथिं च त्रिभि: शरै: | प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय कालान्तकसमद्युति:,इसके बाद प्रलयकालीन यमराजके समान तेजस्वी भीमसेनने तीन बाणोंद्वारा सिन्धुराज जयद्रथके घोड़ों तथा सारथिको यमलोक भेज दिया

Transliteration

Saindhavasya tathāśvān sārathiṁ ca tribhiḥ śaraiḥ | prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya kālāntaka-samadyutiḥ ||

Translation

यानंतर कालान्तक यमासारखा तेजस्वी भीमसेनाने तीन बाणांनी सैन्धव जयद्रथाचे घोडे आणि सारथी यांना मृत्युलोकास पाठविले.

Word by Word

सैन्धवस्यof Jayadratha (the Sindhu king)

तथाalso/likewise

अश्वान्horses

सारथिम्charioteer

चand

त्रिभिःwith three

शरैःarrows

प्राहिणोत्sent/consigned

मृत्युलोकायto the world of Death (death-realm)

कालान्तकसमद्युतिḥhe whose splendor was like Yama (the ender at time’s end)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Saindhava (Jayadratha)

Sindhu (as Jayadratha’s realm/identity)

Bhīmasena

Yama (implied by kālāntaka and mṛtyuloka)

horses

charioteer

arrows

Mṛtyuloka (realm of death)

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 the inexorable power of Time and Death in war: when conflict escalates, even attendants and animals become casualties, and a warrior can appear as an instrument of fate. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s sober view that adharma-driven war consumes all, not only principal combatants.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that Bhīmasena, blazing like the destroyer at the end of time, strikes with three arrows and kills (or fatally dispatches) Jayadratha’s horses and charioteer, sending them to Mṛtyuloka.