यो ऽजयत् समरे कर्णं पुरंदर इवासुरम् ॥
न स पाण्डुसुतो जेतुं शक्यः केन चिद् आहवे ॥
द्रोणं यः संप्रमथ्यैकः प्रविष्टो मम वाहिनीम् ॥
भीमो धनंजयान्वेषी कस् तम् अर्छेज् जिजीविषुः ॥
को हि संजय भीमस्य स्थातुम् उत्सहते ऽग्रतः ॥
उद्यताशनिवज्रस्य महेन्द्रस्येव दानवः ॥
प्रेतराजपुरं प्राप्य निवर्तेतापि मानवः ॥
न भीमसेनं संप्राप्य निवर्तेत कदा चन ॥
yo 'jayat samare karṇaṃ puraṃdara ivāsuram ||
na sa pāṇḍusuto jetuṃ śakyaḥ kena cid āhave ||
droṇaṃ yaḥ saṃpramathyaikaḥ praviṣṭo mama vāhinīm ||
bhīmo dhanaṃjayānveṣī kas tam archej jijīviṣuḥ ||
ko hi saṃjaya bhīmasya sthātum utsahate 'grataḥ ||
udyatāśanivajrasya mahendrasyeva dānavaḥ ||
pretarājapuraṃ prāpya nivartetāpi mānavaḥ ||
na bhīmasenaṃ saṃprāpya nivarteta kadā cana ||
"He who conquered Karna in battle, as Purandara conquered the asura -- that son of Pandu no one is able to overcome in battle. Bhima, who, having alone crushed Drona, entered my army, seeking Dhananjaya -- who, wishing to live, would approach him? For who, Sanjaya, dares to stand in front of Bhima, like a danava before great Indra with his raised thunder-vajra? Having reached the city of the king of the dead, even a man would return, but having reached Bhimasena, he would never return."
57efea3d761f · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:17:34 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
One might return even from the city of the king of the dead itself, but not from beneath Bhima's hand -- the hyperbole measures the terror by its inescapability. It is notable that Bhima is likened to Indra with vajra raised against the danavas: the poet places him, here too, on the side of heaven's order. The verse teaches that there is a force against which all the daring of the unrighteous is vain; for one who has risen against truth, the encounter with its avenging hand is without return.