Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 11
अध्याय २२ — अमर्याद-युद्धवर्णन
Unrestrained Battle Description and Śakuni’s Rear Assault
धनुश्चिच्छेद भल्लेन सहदेवस्य मारिष | भरतश्रेष्ठ! उसने युद्धस्थलमें युधिष्ठिरको सौ
sañjaya uvāca | dhanuś ciccheda bhallena sahadevasya mārīṣa | bharataśreṣṭha! sa yuddhasthale yudhiṣṭhiraṃ śatena bhīmasenaṃ saptatyā sahadevaṃ pañcabhir nakulaṃ catuḥṣaṣṭyā dhṛṣṭadyumnaṃ pañcabhir draupadī-putrān saptabhiḥ saptabhiś ca sātyakiṃ tribhir bāṇair āhatavān | mānyavara! sārdhaṃ caikena bhallena sahadevasya dhanuś ciccheda || tad apāsya dhanuś chinnaṃ mādrī-putraḥ pratāpavān ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O Ehrwürdiger, mit einem scharfen Bhalla-Pfeil (bhalla) hieb er Sahadevas Bogen entzwei. O Bester der Bharatas! Auf dem Schlachtfeld traf er Yudhiṣṭhira mit hundert Pfeilen, Bhīmasena mit siebzig, Sahadeva mit fünf, Nakula mit vierundsechzig, Dhṛṣṭadyumna mit fünf, die Söhne der Draupadī mit je sieben und Sātyaki mit drei. Und zudem, o geehrter Herr, trennte er mit einem einzigen Bhalla auch Sahadevas Bogen ab. Den zerbrochenen Bogen beiseite werfend, rüstete sich der tapfere Sohn der Mādrī (Sahadeva), den Kampf fortzusetzen.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid intense violence, the episode highlights kṣatriya-dharma: steadfastness and composure under loss. Sahadeva’s bow is cut, yet he does not collapse; he discards the broken weapon and continues—an ethic of resilience and duty in battle.
Sañjaya reports a surge of martial dominance: a warrior showers key Pāṇḍava leaders and allies with arrows in specified counts, then decisively severs Sahadeva’s bow with a bhalla. Sahadeva, the son of Mādrī, throws away the broken bow to keep fighting.