दुर्योधनं पीड्यमानं दृष्ट्वा भीमेन मारिष ॥
चुक्षोभयिषुर् अभ्यागाद् अङ्गो मातङ्गम् आस्थितः ॥
तम् आपतन्तं मातङ्गम् अम्बुदप्रतिमस्वनम् ॥
कुम्भान्तरे भीमसेनो नाराचेनार्दयद् भृशम् ॥
तस्य कायं विनिर्भिद्य ममज्ज धरणीतले ॥
ततः पपात द्विरदो वज्राहत इवाचलः ॥
duryodhanaṃ pīḍyamānaṃ dṛṣṭvā bhīmena māriṣa ||
cukṣobhayiṣur abhyāgād aṅgo mātaṅgam āsthitaḥ ||
tam āpatantaṃ mātaṅgam ambudapratimasvanam ||
kumbhāntare bhīmaseno nārācenārdayad bhṛśam ||
tasya kāyaṃ vinirbhidya mamajja dharaṇītale ||
tataḥ papāta dvirado vajrāhata ivācalaḥ ||
Having spied Duryodhana hard-pressed by Bhima, O worthy one, the king of Anga, wishing to rescue him, came up seated on an elephant. That charging, thunderous elephant Bhimasena struck with force with a naracha arrow in the frontal boss. Having pierced through its body, [the arrow] went into the ground; and then the elephant collapsed, like a mountain struck by the thunderbolt.
9169741e2d12 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
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A single arrow of Bhima pierces the elephant through and buries itself in the earth — the measure of the superhuman might in the son of Wind's arm. The massive elephant, "like a mountain struck by the thunderbolt," falls at one blow. In the image of a mountain felled by lightning lies the thought that even what seems immovable falls in its hour before a higher power. It is telling that the ally rushing to rescue Duryodhana perishes before he can help. The verse teaches that even the greatest mass will not withstand a force that surpasses it; that one hastening to the rescue often perishes first, without reaching his goal; and that strength capable of felling an elephant-mountain with a single blow reveals in a man something superhuman — a glimmer of that power which fells mountains with the thunderbolt.