Shloka 52
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
समघ्नज्छरवर्षेण रथस्थो5न्तकसंनिभ: । तब आकृतीपुत्र रुचिपर्वने तुरंत ही उस हाथीपर आक्रमण किया। वह रथपर बैठकर साक्षात् यमराजके समान जान पड़ता था। उसने बाणोंकी वर्षासे उस हाथीको गहरी चोट पहुँचायी ।। ५१ $ ।। ततः स रुचिपर्वाणं शरेणानतपर्वणा
sa-maghna-cchara-varṣeṇa ratha-stho 'ntaka-sannibhaḥ | tataḥ ākṛtī-putraḥ ruci-parvaṇe tūrṇaṃ hi tasmin hastini ākrāmat | sa ratha-upaviṣṭaḥ sākṣād yama-rāja-samaḥ iva pratibhāti | sa bāṇa-varṣeṇa taṃ hastinaṃ gāḍhaṃ vyathayām āsa || 51 || tataḥ sa ruci-parvāṇaṃ śareṇānata-parvaṇā …
सञ्जय उवाच— स रथस्थोऽन्तकसन्निभः समघ्नच्छरवर्षेण रुचिपर्वणो गजं सहसा समभ्यधावत्, तं तीव्रैः शरैः समन्तात् क्षतवान्। स तदा यम इव प्रत्यक्षो बभौ; शरवृष्ट्या गजं गाढं व्यथितवान्। ततः स रुचिपर्वाणं शरेणानतपर्वणा विव्याध।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical tension: in war, a kṣatriya’s duty is to fight decisively, yet the narrative frames such prowess through death-imagery (Antaka/Yama), reminding the listener that violence inevitably invokes mortality and moral consequence.
Sañjaya describes a chariot-warrior who swiftly assaults Ruciparvan’s war-elephant with a thick shower of arrows, appearing like Death itself; the passage then continues by noting that he next strikes Ruciparvan with a straight, well-made arrow.