Shloka 31
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)
त्रिभिरेव महा भाग: शरै: संनतपर्वभि: | महाराज! इधर महाभाग सात्यकिने भी झुकी हुई गाँठवाले तीन बाणोंद्वारा दुःशासनकी छातीमें चोट पहुँचायी ।। ततो<स्य वाहान् निशितै: शरैर्जघ्ने महारथ:
sañjaya uvāca |
tribhir eva mahābhāgaḥ śaraiḥ sannatapārva-bhiḥ |
mahārāja! idha mahābhāgaḥ sātyakine bhī jhukī huī gāṁṭhavāle tīn bāṇoṁdvārā duḥśāsanasya chātī meṁ coṭa pahuṁcāyī ||
tato 'sya vāhān niśitaiḥ śarair jaghne mahārathaḥ ||
قال سنجيا: أيها الملك، بثلاثة سهامٍ فحسب—ذات عُقَدٍ ومفاصلَ محنيةٍ بإحكام—أصاب المحاربُ الجليل صدرَ دُحشاسَنا. ثم إن ذلك المقاتلَ العظيمَ على العربة أخذ، بسهامٍ حادّة، يضرب خيولَه كذلك.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, technical mastery and decisive action can rapidly change outcomes; ethically, it also points to the tension between necessary martial duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and the escalating harshness of combat, where disabling an opponent’s mobility (striking horses) becomes a strategic, morally weighty act.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Sātyaki wounds Duḥśāsana on the chest with three well-made arrows, and then the great warrior proceeds to strike at (and disable/kill) Duḥśāsana’s horses with sharp arrows, intensifying the engagement.