Shloka 34
Arjuna’s Advance toward Bhīṣma; The Gāṇḍīva’s Signal and the Armies’ Convergence (भीष्माभिमुखगमनम् — गाण्डीवनिर्घोष-ध्वजवर्णनम्)
सुषेणं च ततो हत्वा प्रेषयामास मृत्यवे । उग्रस्य सशिरस्त्राणं शिरश्नन्द्रोपमं भुवि
suṣeṇaṃ ca tato hatvā preṣayāmāsa mṛtyave | ugrasya saśirastrāṇaṃ śiraś candropamaṃ bhuvi
ਫਿਰ ਸੁਸ਼ੇਣ ਨੂੰ ਮਾਰ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਨੇ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਮੌਤ ਦੇ ਹਵਾਲੇ ਕਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ। ਅਤੇ ਉਗ੍ਰ ਦਾ ਸਿਰ—ਸਿਰਸਤ੍ਰਾਣ ਸਮੇਤ—ਚੰਦ੍ਰਮਾ ਵਾਂਗ ਚਮਕਦਾ ਹੋਇਆ ਧਰਤੀ ਉੱਤੇ ਡਿੱਗ ਪਿਆ।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the stark ethical reality of war: even when framed as heroic duty, killing ends in death and loss. The moon-like brilliance of the fallen head suggests how martial glory is momentary and cannot prevent mortality.
Sañjaya narrates a battlefield episode: Suṣeṇa is killed and ‘sent to Death’; then Ugra’s severed head, still wearing its helmet, drops to the ground, described with a vivid simile as shining like the moon.