तस्यार्जुनिः शिरोग्रीवं पाणिपादं धनुर् हयान् ॥
छत्रं ध्वजं नियन्तारं त्रिवेणुं शम्युपस्करम् ॥
चक्रे युगेषां तूणीरान् अनुकर्षं च सायकैः ॥
पताकां चक्रगोप्तारौ सर्वोपकरणानि च ॥
व्यधमल् लाघवात् तच् च ददृशे नास्य कश् चन ॥
स पपात क्षितौ क्षीणः प्रविद्धाभरणाम्बरः ॥
वायुनेव महाचैत्यः संभग्नो ऽमिततेजसा ॥
अनुगाश् चास्य वित्रस्ताः प्राद्रवन् सर्वतोदिशम् ॥
tasyārjuniḥ śirogrīvaṃ pāṇipādaṃ dhanur hayān ||
chatraṃ dhvajaṃ niyantāraṃ triveṇuṃ śamyupaskaram ||
cakre yugeṣāṃ tūṇīrān anukarṣaṃ ca sāyakaiḥ ||
patākāṃ cakragoptārau sarvopakaraṇāni ca ||
vyadhamal lāghavāt tac ca dadṛśe nāsya kaś cana ||
sa papāta kṣitau kṣīṇaḥ praviddhābharaṇāmbaraḥ ||
vāyuneva mahācaityaḥ saṃbhagno 'mitatejasā ||
anugāś cāsya vitrastāḥ prādravan sarvatodiśam ||
His head and neck, his hands and feet, his bow, his horses, his parasol, his banner, his charioteer, the pole-brace, the harness and gear, the yoke and pole, the quivers and the rear axle -- with arrows, together with the flag, both wheel-guards, and all his equipment, Arjuna's son shattered to pieces. And he -- Shalya's brother -- fell to the earth, struck down, his ornaments and garments scattered, just as a great sacred tree is broken by the wind -- felled by the immeasurably mighty one.
6f27b0f39ccf · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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Abhimanyu does not merely kill the enemy but dismantles his entire being -- body, weapons, chariot, down to the last piece of gear -- as if displaying the fullness of his might. The fallen man is likened to 'a great sacred tree broken by the wind': the image of something revered, collapsed into the dust. It is telling that the tradition mourns even the enemy with the image of a shrine -- fallen greatness deserves grief. The verse teaches that perfect strength strikes without remainder, leaving no target untouched; that even a fearsome enemy, in falling, is likened to a sacred tree, for all greatness, once collapsed, calls forth sorrow; and that Abhimanyu, shattering him as the wind shatters a shrine-tree, shows a power before which nothing stands -- yet the very image of a shrine in the fallen man reminds us: even in the destruction of an enemy there is no cause to gloat over his ruined greatness.