पश्य मे धनुषो वीर्यं पश्य बाह्वोर् बलं च मे ॥
एष ते कार्मुकं वीर द्विधा कुर्मि ससायकम् ॥
तस्याहं निशितं भल्लं प्राहिण्वं भरतर्षभ ॥
तेनास्य धनुषः कोटिश् छिन्ना भूमिम् अथागमत् ॥
नव चापि पृषत्कानां शतानि नतपर्वणाम् ॥
प्राहिण्वं कङ्कपत्राणां जामदग्न्यरथं प्रति ॥
काये विषक्तास् तु तदा वायुनाभिसमीरिताः ॥
चेलुः क्षरन्तो रुधिरं नागा इव च ते शराः ॥
क्षतजोक्षितसर्वाङ्गः क्षरन् स रुधिरं व्रणैः ॥
बभौ रामस् तदा राजन् मेरुर् धातून् इवोत्सृजन् ॥
paśya me dhanuṣo vīryaṃ paśya bāhvor balaṃ ca me ||
eṣa te kārmukaṃ vīra dvidhā kurmi sasāyakam ||
tasyāhaṃ niśitaṃ bhallaṃ prāhiṇvaṃ bharatarṣabha ||
tenāsya dhanuṣaḥ koṭiś chinnā bhūmim athāgamat ||
nava cāpi pṛṣatkānāṃ śatāni nataparvaṇām ||
prāhiṇvaṃ kaṅkapatrāṇāṃ jāmadagnyarathaṃ prati ||
kāye viṣaktās tu tadā vāyunābhisamīritāḥ ||
celuḥ kṣaranto rudhiraṃ nāgā iva ca te śarāḥ ||
kṣatajokṣitasarvāṅgaḥ kṣaran sa rudhiraṃ vraṇaiḥ ||
babhau rāmas tadā rājan merur dhātūn ivotsṛjan ||
'Behold the might of my bow, behold the strength of my arms. See, hero — I shall cut your bow in two, together with its arrow.' Then, O best of the Bharatas, I sent at him a sharp, broad-headed arrow; by it the tip of his bow was severed and fell to the ground. After that I loosed nine hundred heron-feathered arrows with bent joints at the chariot of Jamadagnya. Those arrows, lodged in his body and stirred by the wind, quivered, oozing blood, like serpents. His whole body drenched in blood, oozing blood from his wounds, Rama then shone, O king, like Mount Meru pouring forth its minerals.
8954d1300bc6 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:36:32 AM UTC
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This chapter shows that even a duel righteous in form remains spiritually perilous when weapons are raised against a teacher and a brahmin. Bhishma strives to keep the dharma: unwilling to strike an opponent on foot from his chariot, he descends before Rama, bows to him, and asks his blessing. Yet the situation itself is already tragic: Rama, a brahmin by nature, takes on the role of a warrior, and Bhishma is forced to distinguish in him the venerable brahminhood from the martial act against which he fights. When Rama is finally covered in blood, compassion and shame for the warrior's deed awaken in Bhishma. Thus the verse shows the limit of outward rightness: dharma demands action, but the heart must not rejoice in violence even when the battle seems unavoidable.