Shloka 51
भीष्म-युधिष्ठिर-संमर्दः
Bhīṣma’s Pressure on Yudhiṣṭhira; Śikhaṇḍī’s Approach; Evening Withdrawal
अथापरेण भल््लेन सुयुक्तेनाशुपातिना । दुष्कर्ण सुदृढं क्रुद्धों विव्याध हृदये भूशम्
athāpareṇa bhallena suyuktenāśupātinā | duṣkarṇaṃ sudṛḍhaṃ kruddho vivyādha hṛdaye bhūśam ||
Sañjaya said: Then, with another well-aimed bhalla-arrow, swift in its flight, the enraged warrior struck Duṣkarṇa—piercing him firmly in the region of the heart. In the moral atmosphere of the Kurukṣetra war, the verse underscores how wrath and martial skill combine to produce decisive, often fatal, consequences, reminding the listener that violence, once unleashed, moves by its own grim logic regardless of personal ties.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension of battlefield duty: skill and determination, when driven by anger, lead to swift and irreversible harm. It implicitly warns that wrath (krodha) intensifies violence and accelerates destructive outcomes, even within the framework of kṣatriya warfare.
Sañjaya narrates a combat moment in which an enraged warrior shoots another well-aimed, fast-flying bhalla-arrow and strikes Duṣkarṇa powerfully in the heart-region, indicating a decisive and grievous wound in the ongoing Kurukṣetra battle.