न चागाद् द्वैरथं जिष्णुर् दिष्ट्या तं भरतर्षभ ॥
सृजेतां स्पर्धिनाव् एतौ दिव्यान्य् अस्त्राणि सर्वशः ॥
वध्यमानेषु चास्त्रेषु पीडितः सूतनन्दनः ॥
वासवीं समरे शक्तिं ध्रुवं मुञ्चेद् युधिष्ठिर ॥
ततो भवेत् ते व्यसनं घोरं भरतसत्तम ॥
दिष्ट्या रक्षो हतं युद्धे सूतपुत्रेण मानद ॥
वासवीं कारणं कृत्वा कालेनापहतो ह्य् असौ ॥
तवैव कारणाद् रक्षो निहतं तात संयुगे ॥
na cāgād dvairathaṃ jiṣṇur diṣṭyā taṃ bharatarṣabha ||
sṛjetāṃ spardhināv etau divyāny astrāṇi sarvaśaḥ ||
vadhyamāneṣu cāstreṣu pīḍitaḥ sūtanandanaḥ ||
vāsavīṃ samare śaktiṃ dhruvaṃ muñced yudhiṣṭhira ||
tato bhavet te vyasanaṃ ghoraṃ bharatasattama ||
diṣṭyā rakṣo hataṃ yuddhe sūtaputreṇa mānada ||
vāsavīṃ kāraṇaṃ kṛtvā kālenāpahato hy asau ||
tavaiva kāraṇād rakṣo nihataṃ tāta saṃyuge ||
Seeing him, who had suddenly rushed forth with the desire to slay the son of the suta, his will broken by grief, as though scorched by fire, Vyasa approached and spoke to Yudhishthira, son of Dharma: "Fortunately, Phalguna is alive, having met Karna in battle; for he [Karna], wishing to slay Savyasachin, had kept the spear [for him]. Vasavi's spear he would surely have loosed [at you] in battle, O Yudhishthira; then a dreadful calamity would have befallen you, O best of the Bharatas. Fortunately, the rakshasa was slain in battle by the son of the suta, O bestower of honor."
424b9fc17e06 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:58:11 PM UTC
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Vyasa reveals a hidden mercy: had the spear remained unused, it would have slain Yudhishthira himself, had he gone against Karna. It is telling that what the king mourns as calamity has turned into his deliverance. The verse teaches that a person can grieve over the very thing that secretly protects him: the death of Ghatotkacha saved Yudhishthira; and much of what we mourn as loss is, in the highest reckoning, a deliverance we cannot perceive in the hour of grief.