Shloka 28

Devanagari script

श्येनवद्‌ विचरन्‌ भीमो गदाहस्तो महाबल: । पञ्चविंशतिसाहस्रांस्तावकान्‌ समपोथयत्‌,हाथमें गदा लिये बाजके समान विचरते हुए महाबली भीमसेनने आपके उन पचीसों हजार सैनिकोंको मार गिराया

Transliteration

śyenavad vicarann bhīmo gadāhasto mahābalaḥ | pañcaviṃśatisāhasrāṃs tāvakān samapothayat ||

Translation

గదను చేతబట్టి మహాబలుడు భీముడు శ్యేనంలా రణభూమిలో సంచరిస్తూ మీ ఇరవై ఐదు వేల మంది యోధులను చూర్ణం చేశాడు।

Word by Word

श्येनवत्like a hawk

विचरन्moving about, roaming

भीमःBhima

गदाहस्तःhaving a mace in hand / mace-handed

महाबलःvery strong, mighty

पञ्चविंशतिसाहस्रान्twenty-five thousand (in number)

तावकान्your (men), belonging to you

समपोथयत्smashed, crushed, struck down

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīma

gadā (mace)

Kaurava army (tāvakāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the terrifying efficiency of martial prowess in war and implicitly points to the ethical gravity of kṣatriya-duty: even when fighting is framed as duty, the destruction of vast numbers reveals war’s tragic moral weight.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīma, wielding his mace and moving like a hawk across the field, crushes twenty-five thousand Kaurava soldiers, indicating a major surge of Pāṇḍava dominance in that phase of the battle.