Shloka 366
चिच्छेद चास्येष्वसनं भुजौ च क्षुरैश्षतुर्भिनिशितै: शिरश्न | किरीटधारी अर्जुनने हँसते हुए-से दस बाणोंसे उसके मर्मस्थानोंमें निर्भीक होकर आघात किया। फिर चार तीखे छुरोंसे उसके धनुषको, दोनों भुजाओंको तथा मस्तकको भी काट डाला
sañjaya uvāca | ciccheda cāsyāyudhāsanaṃ bhujau ca kṣuraiś caturbhir niśitaiḥ śiraś ca | kirīṭadhārī arjuno hasann iva daśabāṇaiḥ tasya marmasthāneṣu nirbhīkaḥ samāhatya | punaś caturbhiḥ tīkṣṇaiḥ kṣuraiḥ tasya dhanuḥ ubhau bhujau mastakaṃ ca vyacchinat ||
Sañjaya said: Arjuna, the wearer of the diadem, as though smiling, fearlessly struck his opponent’s vital points with ten arrows. Then, with four razor-sharp shafts, he severed his bow, both arms, and even his head. The scene underscores the grim ethic of battlefield skill: decisive force directed at the enemy’s capacity to fight, carried out without hesitation amid the demands of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh moral landscape of war: a warrior’s duty (kṣatriya-dharma) demands decisive action to neutralize an enemy’s fighting capacity. It also implicitly warns that mastery and resolve, when yoked to violence, bring irreversible consequences—hence the need for ethical restraint and right purpose in wielding power.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna’s swift, fearless assault: he strikes the opponent’s vital points with ten arrows and then uses four razor-like shafts to sever the opponent’s bow, both arms, and finally the head—depicting a climactic, lethal moment in the Karṇa Parva battle.