Shloka 253
Duryodhana Seeks Droṇa’s Counsel; Imperative to Protect Jayadratha; Pāñcāla Assault on Duryodhana
अविध्यत रणे राजन् शरैराशीविषोपमै: । राजन्! इसी समय दुर्योधनने रणक्षेत्रमें विषधर सर्पके समान भयंकर नौ-नौ बाणोंसे श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनको घायल कर दिया
avidyhat raṇe rājan śarair āśīviṣopamaiḥ |
Sanjaya said: O King, in the thick of battle he struck with arrows like venomous serpents—at that very moment Duryodhana, on the battlefield, wounded Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna with nine and nine dreadful shafts. The verse shows how war magnifies wrath and skill into instruments of harm, testing restraint and righteousness amid chaos.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension of war: martial prowess can become ‘serpent-like’—swift and poisonous—when driven by hostility. It implicitly warns that even in kṣatriya duty, violence tests self-control and ethical discernment, as actions in rage deepen suffering and karmic consequence.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana, in the midst of the battle, shoots terrifying arrows—compared to venomous serpents—and wounds both Kṛṣṇa (as charioteer) and Arjuna, using nine arrows for each.