Mahabharata · 7.18.14–15
॥
Devanāgarī
मोहिताः परमास्त्रेण क्षयं जग्मुः परस्परम् ॥
अशोभन्त रणे योधाः पुष्पिता इव किंशुकाः ॥
ततः शरसहस्राणि तैर् विमुक्तानि भस्मसात् ॥
कृत्वा तद् अस्त्रं तान् वीरान् अनयद् यमसादनम् ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
mohitāḥ paramāstreṇa kṣayaṃ jagmuḥ parasparam ||
aśobhanta raṇe yodhāḥ puṣpitā iva kiṃśukāḥ ||
tataḥ śarasahasrāṇi tair vimuktāni bhasmasāt ||
kṛtvā tad astraṃ tān vīrān anayad yamasādanam ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मोहिताःmohitāḥbewildered [deluded]; confounded
परमास्त्रेणparamāstreṇaby the supreme weapon; [by] that supreme charm
क्षयम्kṣayamdestruction [ruin]; [to] ruin
जग्मुःjagmuḥcame [arrived at]; came
परस्परम्parasparamfrom one another [mutually]; one from another
अशोभन्तaśobhantashone [gleamed]; were bright
रणेraṇeon the battlefield; on the field of battle
योधाःyodhāḥthe warriors [fighters]; [those] warriors
पुष्पिताःpuṣpitāḥblossomed [in flower]; flowering
इवivalike [as]; just as
किंशुकाःkiṃśukāḥ[the] kimshuka trees [palasha]; kimshuka trees [in scarlet bloom]
ततःtataḥthen; thereupon
शरसहस्राणिśarasahasrāṇithousands of arrows; arrows by the thousand
तैःtaiḥby them; [by them alike]
विमुक्तानिvimuktāniloosed [shot]; loosed by them
भस्मसात् कृत्वाbhasmasāt kṛtvāhaving reduced to ashes; having burned to ashes
तत् अस्त्रम्tat astramthat weapon [that astra]; [that very] astra
तान् वीरान्tān vīrānthose heroes; [those] warriors
अनयत्anayatled away [conducted]; took away
यमसादनम्yamasādanam[to the] abode of Yama; to the hall of Yama [death]
Translation
Bewildered by that supreme weapon, they came to destruction one at the hands of another; and those warriors shone on the battlefield like kimshuka trees in scarlet bloom. Then, having reduced to ashes the thousands of arrows they themselves had loosed, that astra led those heroes away to the abode of Yama.
Version
feb40c276ec7 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:04 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The bloodied bodies of the warriors are likened to the scarlet blossoms of the kimshuka — an image in which the horror of death is clothed in unexpected beauty. Thus the tradition's twofold view of death in battle reveals itself: it is both terrible, and, for one who falls in the performance of duty, in its own way luminous, like the flowering of a tree. It is telling that the astra first reduces their own arrows to ashes, and only then leads the warriors to Yama: a weapon turned against the Truth is powerless even as a weapon. The verse teaches that for one who falls on the field of duty, death is not bare annihilation but a passage that carries its own austere beauty; and that any effort directed against the Supreme burns away before it reaches its mark — like arrows consumed in the air.