Shloka 153

वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च

The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel

Devanagari script

नैन॑ निरीक्षितुं कश्चिदशक्नोद्‌ द्रौणिमाहवे । ऋते घटोत्कचादू वीरादू राक्षसेन्द्रान्महाबलात्‌,भरतनन्दन! युद्धस्थलमें पाण्डवपक्षके सहस्रों राजाओंमेंसे वीर महाबली राक्षसराज घटोत्कचको छोड़कर दूसरा कोई भी विषधर सर्पोके समान भयंकर बाणोंद्वारा पाण्डवोंकी सेनाओंको दग्ध करते हुए अश्वत्थामाकी ओर देख न सका

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | nainaṁ nirīkṣituṁ kaścid aśaknod drauṇim āhave | ṛte ghaṭotkacād vīrād rākṣasendrān mahābalāt, bharatanandana |

Translation

नैनं निरीक्षितुं कश्चिदशक्नोद् द्रौणिमाहवे । ऋते घटोत्कचाद् वीराद् राक्षसेन्द्रान्महाबलात् । तं दहन्तमनीकानि शरैराशीविषोपमैः पाण्डवेयेषु राजसहस्रेषु न कश्चिदभ्यदृश्यत ॥

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'na enam': 'not him

• him (Aśvatthāmā) with negation', 'nirīkṣitum': 'to look at, to behold, to face steadily', 'kaścit': 'anyone, any person', 'aśaknot': 'was not able, could not', 'drauṇim': 'the son of Droṇa

• Aśvatthāmā', 'āhave': 'in battle, in combat', 'ṛte': 'except, without', 'ghaṭotkacāt': 'from/than Ghaṭotkaca (ablative of exception)', 'vīrāt': 'from the hero

• heroic one', 'rākṣasendrāt': 'from the lord of the Rākṣasas', 'mahābalāt': 'from the very mighty one', 'bharatanandana': 'O delight of Bharata’s line (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Aśvatthāmā (Drauṇi)
• Ghaṭotkaca
• Pāṇḍavas (their army)
• Rākṣasas (as a group)
• Bharatanandana (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how sheer destructive capability can paralyze even a vast coalition, and how courage is not merely numerical strength but the capacity to face terror directly. Ethically, it points to the escalating brutality of war and the rare responsibility of exceptional warriors who alone can check overwhelming violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā is so fearsome in battle—burning the Pāṇḍava forces with serpent-like arrows—that none among the many Pāṇḍava-aligned kings can even look at or confront him, except Ghaṭotkaca, the powerful Rākṣasa leader.