Shloka 57
Chapter 51: Saṃdhyākāla-saṃhāra
Evening Withdrawal after Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
अप्राप्ता: सप्तभिभर्भल्लैश्विच्छेद परमास्त्रवित् ततः समादाय शरं सर्वकायविदारणम्
aprāptāḥ saptabhir bharbhallaiś viccheda-paramāstravit tataḥ samādāya śaraṃ sarva-kāya-vidāraṇam
Sañjaya said: Before they could even reach him, he cut them down with seven sharp arrows, displaying consummate mastery in severing missiles. Then he took up another shaft, one capable of tearing through the entire body—an escalation in the ferocity of the battle and a stark reminder of how skill, when yoked to war, becomes a force of swift and irreversible consequence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary competence in warfare can rapidly magnify harm: mastery (astravit) enables decisive interception and then escalation. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension—skill and duty in battle versus the grave human cost that follows from their effective use.
In Sañjaya’s battlefield report, incoming missiles are cut down mid-flight with seven sharp arrows. Immediately afterward, the warrior takes up a more destructive arrow described as capable of rending the entire body, signaling a turn toward a deadlier strike.