यदि नारायणास्त्रस्य प्रतियोद्धा न विद्यते ॥
अद्यैनं प्रतियोत्स्यामि पश्यत्सु कुरुपाण्डुषु ॥
एवम् उक्त्वा ततो भीमो द्रोणपुत्रम् अरिंदमः ॥
अभ्ययान् मेघघोषेण रथेनादित्यवर्चसा ॥
स एनम् इषुजालेन लघुत्वाच् छीघ्रविक्रमः ॥
निमेषमात्रेणासाद्य कुन्तीपुत्रो ऽभ्यवाकिरत् ॥
yadi nārāyaṇāstrasya pratiyoddhā na vidyate ||
adyainaṃ pratiyotsyāmi paśyatsu kurupāṇḍuṣu ||
evam uktvā tato bhīmo droṇaputram ariṃdamaḥ ||
abhyayān meghaghoṣeṇa rathenādityavarcasā ||
sa enam iṣujālena laghutvāc chīghravikramaḥ ||
nimeṣamātreṇāsādya kuntīputro 'bhyavākirat ||
"If the weapon of Narayana has no opponent, then I shall stand against it now, before the eyes of the Kurus and Pandus." Having said this, Bhima, the tamer of foes, advanced upon Drona's son on his thunder-roaring, sun-bright chariot. Swift through his agility, having overtaken him in an instant, the son of Kunti showered him with a net of arrows.
d350ece862e6 · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:18 PM UTC
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Bhima challenges the divine weapon and charges at Ashvatthaman. The recklessness of this bravado is telling: to defy a weapon before which everyone else has submitted is not valor but blindness. The verse teaches that courage without reflection borders on ruinous rashness; and one who, out of thirst for glory, joins battle with the invincible tempts not his enemy but his own fate — endangering everyone nearby.