लब्धलक्ष्यौ तु गान्धाराव् अहतां पाण्डवं पुनः ॥
निदाघवार्षिकौ मासौ लोकं घर्माम्बुभिर् यथा ॥
तौ रथस्थौ नरव्याघ्रौ राजानौ वृषकाचलौ ॥
संश्लिष्टाङ्गौ स्थितौ राजञ् जघानैकेषुणार्जुनः ॥
तौ रथात् सिंहसंकाशौ लोहिताक्षौ महाभुजौ ॥
गतासू पेततुर् वीरौ सोदर्याव् एकलक्षणौ ॥
तयोर् देहौ रथाद् भूमिं गतौ बन्धुजनप्रियौ ॥
यशो दश दिशः पुण्यं गमयित्वा व्यवस्थितौ ॥
labdhalakṣyau tu gāndhārāv ahatāṃ pāṇḍavaṃ punaḥ ||
nidāghavārṣikau māsau lokaṃ gharmāmbubhir yathā ||
tau rathasthau naravyāghrau rājānau vṛṣakācalau ||
saṃśliṣṭāṅgau sthitau rājañ jaghānaikeṣuṇārjunaḥ ||
tau rathāt siṃhasaṃkāśau lohitākṣau mahābhujau ||
gatāsū petatur vīrau sodaryāv ekalakṣaṇau ||
tayor dehau rathād bhūmiṃ gatau bandhujanapriyau ||
yaśo daśa diśaḥ puṇyaṃ gamayitvā vyavasthitau ||
Striking true, the two Gandharas struck Pandava again and again, as the months of heat and rains strike the earth with scorching heat and downpours. Those two, tigers among men, the kings Vrishaka and Achala, standing side by side upon the chariot, O lord, Arjuna slew with a single arrow. Those two, like lions, red-eyed, mighty-armed, fell lifeless from the chariot -- both warriors, blood brothers, indistinguishable in form. Their bodies, having descended from the chariot to the ground, beloved by their kin, having spread pure fame to all quarters, thus remained lying.
ee9841b44f33 · प्रकाशित 19 जुल॰ 2026, 3:11:21 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
With a single arrow Arjuna slays both brothers, who stood side by side -- and the tradition does not gloat but grieves: "beloved by their kin," "indistinguishable in form," they "spread pure fame to all quarters." Thus is honored the valor of fallen enemies, and their brotherly inseparability, carried through to a shared death, is crowned with words of pure fame. It is telling that the brothers, indistinguishable in life, die together too, by a single arrow, and are united in death as well. The verse teaches that the tradition sees in a fallen enemy not plunder but a hero worthy of remembrance and praise; that brotherly fidelity, kept to a common death, is bright even in the ranks of enemies; and that true fame -- "pure" (punya) -- is won not by victory but by a valiant death in the discharge of duty, and so falls even to the defeated who die with honor.