Shloka 363
द्रोणकर्णयोः निशि संप्रहारः — Night Engagement with Droṇa and Karṇa
क्षुरैश्रविच्छेद बीभत्सुर्द्धिधैकैकं त्रिधेव च अर्जुनने हाथोंमें प्रास और तोमर लिये खूनसे रँँगे हुए घुड़सवारोंमेंसे प्रत्येकके अपने छुरोंद्वारा दो-दो और तीन-तीन टुकड़े कर डाले
kṣuraiś chaviccheda-bībhatsur dvidhāikaikaṃ tridhāiva ca | arjunena hastābhyāṃ prāsa-tomara-dhāriṇāṃ rudhira-rañjitānāṃ hayārohāṇāṃ pratyekaṃ sva-kṣuraiḥ dvi-dvi-tri-tri-khaṇḍīkṛtaṃ ||
Sañjaya said: Arjuna—terrible in battle—cut down the blood-smeared horsemen who bore spears and javelins, slicing each of them with his sharp blades into two and even into three pieces.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh reality of dharma-bound warfare: a kṣatriya like Arjuna must act decisively and skillfully in battle, even when the acts are violent. It frames prowess not as cruelty for its own sake, but as grim execution of duty within an ethically fraught conflict.
Sañjaya reports that Arjuna, wielding sharp weapons, strikes mounted warriors carrying spears and javelins. The horsemen, already blood-stained amid the fighting, are cut down individually—some split into two, others into three pieces—emphasizing Arjuna’s overwhelming martial force in the Drona-parvan battle.