एतन् नारोचयद् राजन् कुन्तीपुत्रो धनंजयः ॥
अन्ये त्व् अरोचयन् सर्वे कृच्छ्रेण तु युधिष्ठिरः ॥
ततो भीमो महाबाहुर् अनीके स्वे महागजम् ॥
जघान गदया राजन्न् अश्वत्थामानम् इत्य् उत ॥
भीमसेनस् तु सव्रीडम् उपेत्य द्रोणम् आहवे ॥
अश्वत्थामा हत इति शब्दम् उच्चैश् चकार ह ॥
अश्वत्थामेति हि गजः ख्यातो नाम्ना हतो ऽभवत् ॥
कृत्वा मनसि तं भीमो मिथ्या व्याहृतवांस् तदा ॥
etan nārocayad rājan kuntīputro dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
anye tv arocayan sarve kṛcchreṇa tu yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
tato bhīmo mahābāhur anīke sve mahāgajam ||
jaghāna gadayā rājann aśvatthāmānam ity uta ||
bhīmasenas tu savrīḍam upetya droṇam āhave ||
aśvatthāmā hata iti śabdam uccaiś cakāra ha ||
aśvatthāmeti hi gajaḥ khyāto nāmnā hato 'bhavat ||
kṛtvā manasi taṃ bhīmo mithyā vyāhṛtavāṃs tadā ||
This the son of Kunti, Dhananjaya, did not approve, O king; but all the others approved, and Yudhishthira with difficulty. Then mighty-armed Bhima slew with his mace, O king, a great elephant in his own division, named Ashvatthaman. And Bhimasena, with shame, having approached Drona in battle, loudly proclaimed: "Ashvatthaman is slain!" For it was an elephant called Ashvatthaman by that name that had been slain; having that elephant in mind, Bhima spoke a falsehood then.
3e093c3f4094 · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Bhima proclaims it "with shame" -- even a rough warrior feels the baseness of the ruse. It is telling that the deception is cloaked in literal truth -- an elephant named Ashvatthaman was indeed slain. The verse teaches that a half-truth calculated to deceive weighs heavier on the conscience than an outright lie; and Bhima's shame, he who is unused to cunning, shows that even falsehood meant for deliverance wounds an honest soul.