सो ऽभिमन्युं त्रिभिर् बाणैर् विद्ध्वा वक्षस्य् अथानदत् ॥
त्रिभिश् च दक्षिणे बाहौ सव्ये च निशितैस् त्रिभिः ॥
स तस्येष्वसनं छित्त्वा फाल्गुणिः सव्यदक्षिणौ ॥
भुजौ शिरश् च स्वक्षिभ्रु क्षितौ क्षिप्रम् अपातयत् ॥
so 'bhimanyuṃ tribhir bāṇair viddhvā vakṣasy athānadat ||
tribhiś ca dakṣiṇe bāhau savye ca niśitais tribhiḥ ||
sa tasyeṣvasanaṃ chittvā phālguṇiḥ savyadakṣiṇau ||
bhujau śiraś ca svakṣibhru kṣitau kṣipram apātayat ||
He [Rukmaratha], having wounded Abhimanyu with three arrows in the chest, roared, and pierced him with three more in the right arm and three sharp ones in the left. But the son of Phalguna, having severed his bow, at once brought down to the ground his left and right arms, and his comely head with its beautiful eyes and brows.
38062401574a · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:03 PM UTC
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The one who boasted of taking the youth alive himself loses his arms and head in a single instant — the boast has turned against the boaster with striking precision. It is significant that the tradition notes the "beautiful eyes and brows" of the severed head: even here, in striking down the enemy, it grieves over beauty perishing. The verse teaches that one who plots to capture and humiliate often reaps disgrace and death himself; that for a boaster the step from word to shame is but one; and that the tradition, recalling the beauty even of the arrogant Rukmaratha's severed head, shows its unwavering compassion for the one who perishes — for even in the punished proud man a cut-short human life is mourned, beautiful in countenance, however guilty his arrogance may have been.