Shloka 86
Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)
अथान्यद् धनुरादाय त्यक्त्वा तच्च महद् धनु: । विशीर्ण भरतश्रेष्ठ: हार्दिक्य: परवीरहा,भरतश्रेष्ठ। तदनन्तर शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाले कृतवर्माने टूटे हुए उस विशाल धनुषको त्यागकर दूसरा धनुष हाथमें ले लिया और युद्धमें पाण्डवोंको तीन-तीन बाण मारकर घायल कर दिया। साथ ही शिखण्डीको भी तीन और पाँच बाणोंसे बींध डाला
sañjaya uvāca |
athānyad dhanur ādāya tyaktvā tac ca mahad dhanuḥ |
viśīrṇaḥ bharataśreṣṭhaḥ hārdikyaḥ paravīrahā ||
Sañjaya said: Then, O best of the Bharatas, Hārdikya (Kṛtavarmā), slayer of enemy-heroes, casting aside that great bow when it had been shattered, took up another. In the continuing press of battle he struck the Pāṇḍava warriors with volleys of arrows, and he also pierced Śikhaṇḍin with multiple shafts—an image of relentless martial resolve, where skill and ferocity eclipse any pause for pity amid the ethics of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds kṣatriya conduct in war: when a weapon fails, a warrior must remain composed and continue the fight with another weapon. Ethically, it also highlights the Mahābhārata’s tension between duty-driven valor and the grim human cost of relentless violence.
Sañjaya reports that Kṛtavarmā (Hārdikya), after his large bow is shattered, immediately takes up another bow and resumes attacking—wounding Pāṇḍava fighters and also striking Śikhaṇḍin with several arrows.