Shloka 15
Irāvān-nidhana-anantaraṃ Ghaṭotkaca-nādaḥ
After Irāvān’s fall: Ghaṭotkaca’s roar and the clash with Duryodhana
अथैनं छिन्नथन्वानं नाराचेन स्तनान्तरे । निर्बिभेद रणे राजा सर्वसैन्यस्य पश्यत:,राजन! धनुष कट जानेपर महाबली राजा युधिष्ठिरने श्रुतायुकी छातीमें नाराचसे प्रहार किया। फिर उन्होंने समस्त सेनाओंके देखते-देखते रणक्षेत्रमें महामना श्रुतायुके घोड़ोंको तुरंत मार डाला और उसके सारथिको भी शीघ्र ही मौतके मुखमें डाल दिया
atha enaṃ chinnathanvānaṃ nārācena stanāntare | nirbibheda raṇe rājā sarvasainyasya paśyataḥ ||
Sañjaya nói: Rồi nhà vua, trước mắt toàn quân, đã dùng mũi tên nārāca đâm xuyên ngực hắn ngay trên chiến địa—dẫu cây cung của hắn đã bị chém đứt.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the uncompromising demands of kṣatriya-dharma in war: decisive action under public scrutiny, where victory and protection of one’s forces are treated as overriding duties, even amid the moral harshness of battlefield violence.
Sañjaya reports that a king pierces an opponent—whose bow has already been cut—with a nārāca arrow in the chest, and does so in full view of the assembled armies, emphasizing the dramatic, witnessed nature of the combat.