Mahabharata 9.21.17 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 17

Adhyāya 21 — Duryodhanasya bāṇavarṣaḥ

Duryodhana’s Arrow-Storm and the Dust-Obscured Engagements

Devanagari script

ततः पूर्णायतोत्सृष्टे: कृतवर्मा शिलाशितै: । सात्यकिं त्रिभिराहत्य धनुरेकेन चिच्छिदे

Transliteration

tataḥ pūrṇāyatotsṛṣṭeḥ kṛtavarmā śilāśitaiḥ | sātyakiṃ tribhir āhatya dhanur ekena cicchide ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Darauf schoss Kṛtavarmā, den Bogen bis zum Äußersten gespannt, und traf Sātyaki mit drei auf Stein geschärften Pfeilen; und mit einem einzigen Pfeil zerschnitt er Sātyakis Bogen.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• पूर्णायतोत्सृष्टेभ्यः: from (arrows) fully drawn and released
• पूर्णायतोत्सृष्टेभ्यः: Apadana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्ण-आयत-उत्सृष्ट
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Ablative, Plural

• कृतवर्मा: Kṛtavarmā
• कृतवर्मा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृतवर्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शिलाशितैः: with stone-whetted (arrows)
• शिलाशितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शिलाशित
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• सात्यकिम्: Sātyaki
• सात्यकिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सात्यकि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• त्रिभिः: with three (arrows)
• त्रिभिः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रि
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• आहत्य: having struck, after striking
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-हन्
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• धनुः: bow
• धनुः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धनुस्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• एकेन: with one (arrow)
• एकेन: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• चिच्छिदे: cut, severed
• Type: Verb
• Root: छिद्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kṛtavarmā
• Sātyaki (Yuyudhāna)
• bow (dhanuḥ)
• arrows (bāṇa implied)
• whetstone/stone-sharpened weapons (śilā-śita)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores a battlefield ethic where superior skill is used to neutralize an opponent’s fighting capacity—here by cutting the bow—showing that in kṣatriya warfare, strategy and restraint can appear as ‘disarming’ rather than immediate killing, even amid relentless violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Kṛtavarmā fires fully drawn arrows: three strike Sātyaki, and a fourth severs Sātyaki’s bow, leaving him momentarily disarmed.