Shloka 243
Book 9 (Śalya-parva), Adhyāya 13 — Arjuna’s Arrow-storm and the Drauṇi Confrontation
द्विधा चिच्छेद समरे कृतहस्त: प्रतापवान् | सिद्धहस्त एवं प्रतापी वीर शल्यने अपने भल्लोंद्वारा सात्यकिके चलाये हुए तोमरके टुकड़े-टुकड़े कर डाले और भीमसेनके छोड़े हुए सुवर्णभूषित बाणके दो खण्ड कर डाले
sañjaya uvāca |
dvidhā ciccheda samare kṛtahastaḥ pratāpavān | siddhahasta evaṁ pratāpī vīraḥ śalyaḥ svaballaiḥ sātyakicodita-tomarasyāpi khaṇḍaśaḥ cakāra, bhīmasenamuktaṁ suvarṇabhūṣitaṁ bāṇam api dvau khaṇḍau cakāra |
Sanjaya sprach: Mitten im Getümmel der Schlacht zerschnitt der mächtige, hochgeübte Held Śalya, dessen Hand niemals fehlging, es in zwei Teile. Mit wohlgezielten Pfeilen zerschmetterte er den von Satyaki geschleuderten Wurfspieß (Tomara) in Stücke und spaltete auch den goldgeschmückten Pfeil, den Bhimasena abgeschossen hatte, entzwei.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of kṣatriya martial competence—precision, steadiness, and courage—while implicitly intensifying the epic’s ethical tension: extraordinary skill in war can be admirable as duty, yet it also magnifies destruction and suffering.
Sanjaya reports that Shalya, fighting with great accuracy, breaks apart the javelin thrown by Satyaki and then splits into two the gold-decorated arrow shot by Bhimasena, demonstrating Shalya’s dominance in that exchange of missiles.