Shloka 426
भीष्मधनंजयद्वैरथम्
Bhīṣma–Dhanaṃjaya Duel and the Opening Clash
तमर्जुन: प्रत्यविध्यद् दशभिर्मर्म भेदिभि: । गंगानन्दन भीष्मने उस रणक्षेत्रमें नौ बाणोंसे अर्जुनको गहरी चोट पहुँचायी। तब अर्जुनने भी उन्हें दस मर्मभेदी बाणोंद्वारा बींध डाला
sañjaya uvāca | tam arjunaḥ pratyavidhyad daśabhir marma-bhedibhiḥ |
Sañjaya said: Arjuna struck him back, piercing him with ten arrows that found the vital points. In the fierce exchange on the battlefield, Bhīṣma, the son of the Gaṅgā, dealt Arjuna deep wounds with nine arrows; then Arjuna too transfixed him with ten marman-piercing shafts.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even within dharma-yuddha, action has moral gravity: the verse highlights deliberate, skilled violence (targeting vital points) and thereby invites reflection on responsibility, restraint, and the heavy cost of fulfilling kṣatriya duty.
In the ongoing duel, after being wounded, Arjuna retaliates and pierces his opponent—understood in context as Bhīṣma—with ten vital-point-piercing arrows, intensifying the battlefield exchange.