Shloka 20
दुर्योधन-कर्ण-संवादः
Duryodhana–Karna Dialogue on Vyūha-bheda and Daiva
व्याकुलीकृत्य त॑ द्रोणो बृहत्क्षत्र महारथम् | अश्रांश्षतुर्भिन्यवधीच्चतुरो5स्य पतत्त्रिभि:
vyākulīkṛtya taṁ droṇo bṛhatkṣatra-mahāratham | aśrāṁś caturbhir nyavadhīc caturō 'sya patattribhiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Having thrown that great chariot-warrior Bṛhatkṣatra into confusion, Droṇa struck him down—first by cutting off his four arrows with four of his own, and then by severing his four winged shafts.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary competence in war can be deployed with ruthless efficiency as part of kṣatriya-duty, while also reminding the reader that such skill operates within a morally complex field where victory and death are intertwined with obligation and consequence.
Sañjaya reports that Droṇa overwhelms the warrior Bṛhatkṣatra: he confounds him, neutralizes his missiles by matching them with his own, and then brings about his death through superior archery.