Shloka 113
गौरुडव्यूह-रचना तथा अर्धचन्द्र-प्रत्यव्यूह
Garuḍa Array and the Ardhacandra Counter-Formation
ददृशुर्देवगन्धर्वा: पिशाचोरगराक्षसा: । स तस्य कवचं भित्त्वा हृदयं चामितौजस:
dadṛśur devagandharvāḥ piśācoragarākṣasāḥ | sa tasya kavacaṃ bhittvā hṛdayaṃ cāmitaujasāḥ ||
Wika ni Sañjaya: Nasaksihan ng mga Deva at Gandharva, kasama ang mga Piśāca, mga ahas, at mga Rākṣasa, ang pangyayari. Pagkaraan, ang mandirigmang may di-masukat na lakas ay winasak ang baluting panangga ng kaniyang kalaban at tumagos hanggang sa puso—larawan ng matigas na wakas ng digmaan, kung saan nagtatagpo ang giting at tadhana sa harap ng lahat ng daigdig.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical tension: war is a public, even cosmic, spectacle, yet its outcome is intimate and irreversible—armor breaks, the heart is pierced. It highlights the gravity of kṣatriya action: prowess must be weighed against the moral cost and the inevitability of death once violence is unleashed.
Sañjaya reports that many orders of beings—celestial and fearsome—are witnessing the battle. In that moment, a mighty warrior breaks through an opponent’s armor and strikes the heart, indicating a decisive, likely fatal blow observed by the assembled worlds.