Shloka 13
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 54 — Missile-Exchange and Tactical Redirection
Arjuna, Aśvatthāman, Karṇa
ततः स विद्धों भरतर्षभेण बाणेन गात्रावरणातिगेन । गतासुराजौ निपपात भूमौ नगो नगाग्रादिव वातरुग्ण:
tataḥ sa viddho bharatarṣabheṇa bāṇena gātrāvaraṇātigena | gatāsurājau nipapāta bhūmau nago nagāgrādiva vātarugṇaḥ ||
แล้วพระราชานั้นถูกภรตฤษภะคืออรชุนยิงด้วยศรที่ทะลุเกราะเข้าสู่กาย ก็สิ้นลมหายใจล้มลงสู่พื้นดิน ดุจไม้ใหญ่บนภูเขาถูกพายุหักโค่น ร่วงจากยอดเขาลงฉะนั้น เขาตกจากรถศึกสู่สนามรบ
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of consequences in righteous conflict: when war is joined under dharma, skill and resolve can bring swift, final outcomes. The storm-torn tree simile stresses impermanence of power and the fragility of embodied life before decisive action.
A king is struck by Arjuna’s penetrating arrow that passes through his armor; his life departs and he falls from his chariot onto the battlefield, compared to a great tree blown down from a mountain peak.