Shloka 44
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
पूरयित्वा ततो बाहान् प्राहरत् तस्य धन्विन: । भरतश्रेष्ठ! अर्जुनने सौ बाणोंद्वारा उसे आच्छादित करके उस थधनुर्धर वीरके घोड़ोंपर घातक प्रहार किया ।। ततः शरं समादाय यमदण्डोपमं तदा
pūrayitvā tato bāhān prāharat tasya dhanvinaḥ | bharataśreṣṭha arjunena śaubāṇair dvārā tam ācchādya tasya tad-dhanurdhara-vīrasya ghodeṣu ghātakaḥ prahāraḥ kṛtaḥ || tataḥ śaraṃ samādāya yamadaṇḍopamaṃ tadā
Sañjaya sprach: Dann, nachdem er seine Arme ganz zurückgezogen und gespannt hatte, traf Arjuna jenen Bogenschützen. O Bester der Bhāratas, nachdem er ihn mit einem Schauer scharfer Pfeile bedeckt hatte, versetzte Arjuna den Pferden jenes mächtigen Schützen einen tödlichen Schlag. Darauf nahm er einen Pfeil, dem Stab Yamas gleich, und machte sich bereit, erneut zuzuschlagen.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in battle: disciplined force, strategic targeting (disabling mobility by striking horses), and the stark ethical gravity of war, underscored by the ‘Yama’s staff’ metaphor that frames combat as an encounter with death and consequence.
Sañjaya narrates Arjuna’s attack on an opposing archer: Arjuna draws fully, overwhelms him with a dense volley of arrows, then delivers a lethal strike against the opponent’s horses, and immediately readies another death-dealing arrow for the next action.