Shloka 566
न्यहनद् द्विषतां पूगान् गतासूनन्तको यथा । जैसे यमराज आयुरहित प्राणियोंके प्राण हर लेते हैं, उसी प्रकार धनुर्धरोंमें श्रेष्ठ पाण्ड्य युद्धस्थलमें नाना प्रकारके बाणोंद्वारा शत्रुसमूहोंका नाश कर रहे थे
nyahanad dviṣatāṃ pūgān gatāsūn antako yathā |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Gaya ni Antaka—ang Kamatayan mismo—na kumikitil sa buhay ng mga yaong dumating na ang takdang oras, ang Pāṇḍya, pinakadakila sa mga mamamana, ay nagwawasak ng mga pulutong ng kaaway sa larangan ng digmaan sa pamamagitan ng sunod-sunod na ulang-palaso na sari-sari ang anyo. Ipinapakita ng larawang ito ang di-maiiwasang pagdating ng kamatayan sa digmaan at ang nakapanghihilakbot na husay ng mandirigma kapag ang dharma ay naging tungkulin ng pakikidigma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the simile of Antaka (Death) to highlight the inevitability of death in war and the relentless momentum of battle once it is joined. It also reflects the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension: even when fighting is framed as kṣatriya-duty, its outcome resembles impersonal fate—life is taken swiftly, as if by Death itself.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Pāṇḍya warrior, famed for archery, is devastating enemy formations on the battlefield, felling groups of foes with many kinds of arrows, comparable to Death taking away lives.