संसक्तं सूतपुत्रेण दृष्ट्वा भीमम् अरिंदमम् ॥
अतिभारम् अमन्येतां भीमे कृष्णधनंजयौ ॥
तत्राधिरथिभीमाभ्यां शरैर् मुक्तैर् दृढाहताः ॥
इषुपातम् अतिक्रम्य पेतुर् अश्वनरद्विपाः ॥
पतद्भिः पतितैश् चान्यैर् गतासुभिर् अनेकशः ॥
कृतो महान् महाराज पुत्राणां ते जनक्षयः ॥
मनुष्याश्वगजानां च शरीरैर् गतजीवितैः ॥
क्षणेन भूमिः संजज्ञे संवृता भरतर्षभ ॥
saṃsaktaṃ sūtaputreṇa dṛṣṭvā bhīmam ariṃdamam ||
atibhāram amanyetāṃ bhīme kṛṣṇadhanaṃjayau ||
tatrādhirathibhīmābhyāṃ śarair muktair dṛḍhāhatāḥ ||
iṣupātam atikramya petur aśvanaradvipāḥ ||
patadbhiḥ patitaiś cānyair gatāsubhir anekaśaḥ ||
kṛto mahān mahārāja putrāṇāṃ te janakṣayaḥ ||
manuṣyāśvagajānāṃ ca śarīrair gatajīvitaiḥ ||
kṣaṇena bhūmiḥ saṃjajñe saṃvṛtā bharatarṣabha ||
Seeing Bhima, the tamer of foes, locked in combat with the charioteer's son, Krishna and Dhananjaya deemed this an excessive burden for Bhima. There, struck hard by the arrows loosed by Karna and Bhima, horses, men, and elephants fell, hurled beyond the very range of the arrows. By those falling and those already fallen, and by countless others bereft of breath, a great slaughter was wrought among your sons, O great king. With the lifeless bodies of men, horses, and elephants, in a single instant the earth became entirely strewn, O bull among the Bharatas.
b946c3e1ffa8 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:17:33 PM UTC
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Even Krishna and Arjuna find Bhima's burden too heavy to bear alone -- yet they do not rush to take the feat from him; the valiant one is left to carry his share to the limit. It is telling that the chapter closes not on the triumph of a duel but on a mountain of bodies: every act of heroic prowess is paid for in the unnamed lives of men, horses, and elephants. The verse teaches that war, however brightly courage may shine within it, ends only in earth strewn with the dead -- and the reckoning for it falls not to the celebrated champions but to the voiceless multitudes.