भीमसेनस् तु संक्रुद्धो गदाम् आदाय पाण्डवः ॥
ध्वजं धनुश् च सूतं च संममर्दाहवे रिपोः ॥
अमृष्यमाणः कर्णस् तु भीमसेनम् अयुध्यत ॥
विविधैर् इषुजालैश् च नानाशस्त्रैश् च संयुगे ॥
संकुले वर्तमाने तु राजा धर्मसुतो ऽब्रवीत् ॥
पाञ्चालानां नरव्याघ्रान् मत्स्यानां च नरर्षभान् ॥
ये नः प्राणाः शिरो ये नो ये नो योधा महाबलाः ॥
त एते धार्तराष्ट्रेषु विषक्ताः पुरुषर्षभाः ॥
bhīmasenas tu saṃkruddho gadām ādāya pāṇḍavaḥ ||
dhvajaṃ dhanuś ca sūtaṃ ca saṃmamardāhave ripoḥ ||
amṛṣyamāṇaḥ karṇas tu bhīmasenam ayudhyata ||
vividhair iṣujālaiś ca nānāśastraiś ca saṃyuge ||
saṃkule vartamāne tu rājā dharmasuto 'bravīt ||
pāñcālānāṃ naravyāghrān matsyānāṃ ca nararṣabhān ||
ye naḥ prāṇāḥ śiro ye no ye no yodhā mahābalāḥ ||
ta ete dhārtarāṣṭreṣu viṣaktāḥ puruṣarṣabhāḥ ||
But Bhimasena, enraged, the Pandava, taking up his mace, crushed the enemy's [Karna's] banner, bow, and charioteer in battle. And Karna, unable to bear it, fought with Bhimasena using various nets of arrows and every kind of weapon in the clash. While the melee raged on, the king, son of Dharma [Yudhishthira], said to the Panchalas, tigers among men, and to the Matsyas, bulls among men: "Those who are our life-breath, who are our head, who are our mighty warriors -- those bulls among men are now locked in combat with the host of Dhartarashtra."
503ccc140e83 · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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Yudhishthira calls his champions the army's "breath and head" -- everything rests on the few. It is telling that the king is anxious not for himself but for those by whom the host lives. The verse teaches that an army lives through its finest, as the body lives through breath; and a wise leader cares above all for the center of his strength, for when the chief ones fall, all the rest collapses with them.