Shloka 226
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)
रुक्मपुड्खैर्महेष्वासो गार्ध्रपत्रैरजिद्ागै: । तब महाथनुर्थर सात्यकिने भी सोनेके पुंख तथा गीधकी पाँखवाले पाँच तीखे और सीधे जानेवाले बाणोंद्वारा दुशासनको वेधकर बदला चुकाया
sañjaya uvāca | rukmapuṅkhair maheṣvāso gārdhrapatrair ajihmagaiḥ | tadā mahādhanurdharaḥ sātyakine bhīmasenake puṅkhais tathā gīdhrapakṣavālaiḥ pañca tīkṣṇaiḥ śaraiḥ duḥśāsanaṃ vidhya pratyakāraṃ cakāra |
Sanjaya said: Then the great archer, wielding a mighty bow, repaid the injury by piercing Duḥśāsana with five sharp, straight-flying arrows—golden-shafted and feathered with vulture plumes. In the moral atmosphere of the war, this act is framed as retribution within the warrior code: a measured answering of violence with violence, driven by loyalty to comrades rather than personal gain.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Within the battlefield ethic (kṣatriya-dharma), harm done to one’s side is answered decisively; the verse highlights loyalty to comrades and the idea of ‘repayment’ (pratyakāra) as a sanctioned form of justice in war, even while it underscores the tragic cycle of violence.
Sanjaya describes a powerful archer striking Duḥśāsana with five sharp, straight arrows—golden-shafted and vulture-feathered—thereby ‘repaying’ an earlier injury connected with Sātyaki and Bhīmasena.