तथा तद् आयोधनम् उग्रदर्शनं; निशामुखे पितृपतिराष्ट्रसंनिभम् ॥
निरीक्षमाणाः शनकैर् जहुर् नराः; समुत्थितारुण्डकुलोपसंकुलम् ॥
अपेतविध्वस्तमहार्हभूषणं; निपातितं शक्रसमं महारथम् ॥
रणे ऽभिमन्युं ददृशुस् तदा जना; व्यपोढहव्यं सदसीव पावकम् ॥
tathā tad āyodhanam ugradarśanaṃ; niśāmukhe pitṛpatirāṣṭrasaṃnibham ||
nirīkṣamāṇāḥ śanakair jahur narāḥ; samutthitāruṇḍakulopasaṃkulam ||
apetavidhvastamahārhabhūṣaṇaṃ; nipātitaṃ śakrasamaṃ mahāratham ||
raṇe 'bhimanyuṃ dadṛśus tadā janā; vyapoḍhahavyaṃ sadasīva pāvakam ||
Thus that battlefield, terrible to see, on the threshold of night resembling the realm of the Lord of the Fathers, swarming with risen throngs of headless bodies — surveying it, the men slowly abandoned it. And then the people beheld, struck down in battle, the god-like maharatha Abhimanyu, his costly ornaments fallen and shattered, like fire in the abode of sacrifice from which the offering has been carried away.
8fa6a11695ec · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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The chapter closes with the same countenance it opened with, now extinguished: the god-like boy, "his ornaments fallen," lies "like fire in the sacrificial hall from which the offering has been taken away." The image "vyapoḍha-havyam… pāvakam" is perfect: Abhimanyu was a sacrificial fire ready to receive its portion — but lawlessness took from this fire its due offering, cutting short the sacrifice by forbidden means. The field itself is likened to "the realm of Yama." Here the verse teaches that a righteous life unjustly cut short remains an unfinished sacrifice — and this unfinishedness cries out for the restoration of dharma louder than any accusation.