Shloka 27
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
भीमसेन भी उसके शरीरके नीचेसे निकलकर उस हाथीके सामने खड़े हो गये। उस समय हाथीने अपनी सूँड़से गिराकर उन्हें दोनों घुटनोंसे कुचल डालनेका प्रयत्न किया ।। ग्रीवायां वेष्टयित्वैनं स गजो हन्तुमैहत । करवेष्टं भीमसेनो भ्रमं दत्त्वा व्यमोचयत्,इतना ही नहीं, उस हाथीने उन्हें गलेमें लपेटकर मार डालनेकी चेष्टा की। तब भीमसेन उसे भ्रममें डालकर उसकी सूँड़के लपेटसे अपने-आपको छुड़ा लिया
bhīmasenaḥ sa tu tasya gajasya śarīrād adhaḥ nirgatyābhimukhaṃ sthitaḥ | sa gajaḥ śuṇḍayā nipātyainaṃ jānubhyāṃ pīḍayituṃ samudyataḥ || grīvāyāṃ veṣṭayitvainaṃ sa gajo hantum aicchat | kara-veṣṭaṃ bhīmaseno bhramaṃ dattvā vyamocayat ||
सञ्जय उवाच—ग्रीवायां वेष्टयित्वैनं स गजो हन्तुमैहत। करवेष्टं भीमसेनो भ्रमं दत्त्वा व्यमोचयत्॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in violent circumstances like war, effectiveness and survival depend on alert intelligence and self-command. Bhīma’s strength succeeds because it is paired with quick judgment and tactical deception (bhrama), not mere brute force.
Bhīma emerges from beneath an elephant, faces it, and the elephant tries to kill him—first by throwing and crushing him with its knees, then by coiling around his neck with its trunk. Bhīma confuses the animal with a feint and frees himself from the trunk’s grip.