Shloka 9
कर्णभीमसेनयुद्धम् | Karṇa–Bhīmasena Engagement
Chapter 111
तां तामलम्बुषो राजन् माययैव निजध्निवान् | नरेश्वर! घटोत्कच युद्धस्थलमें जो-जो माया दिखाता, उसे अलम्बुष अपनी मायाद्वारा ही नष्ट कर देता था ।। तं॑ तथा युध्यमानं तु मायायुद्धविशारदम्
tāṃ tāṃlambuṣo rājan māyayaiva nijaghnivān | nareśvara! ghaṭotkaca yuddhasthale yaḥ-yaḥ māyāṃ darśayati, tāṃ tāṃ alambuṣaḥ svamāyayā eva naśayati sma || taṃ tathā yudhyamānaṃ tu māyāyuddhaviśāradaṃ |
सञ्जय उवाच—राजन्, अलम्बुषो निजमाययैव तां तां मायां प्रत्यवस्थापयामास। नरेश्वर, युद्धस्थले घटोत्कचो यां यां मायां दर्शयति स्म, तां ताम् अलम्बुषः स्वमायया विनाशयामास। एवं तं मायायुद्धविशारदं तथा युध्यमानम्…
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how deceptive power (māyā) in war invites an equal and opposite deception; when conflict is driven by illusion and counter-illusion, victory depends less on righteousness and more on skillful neutralization—raising an ethical tension between dharma and expedient tactics.
On the battlefield, Ghaṭotkaca employs various magical illusions, but Alambuṣa—himself adept in māyā—counters and destroys each illusion with his own, showing a duel of rākṣasa-style magical warfare as Sanjaya reports it to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.