Shloka 10
अभिमन्योर् दारुणः संमर्दः
Abhimanyu’s fierce melee amid chariot formations
उसने सात्यकिको तीन, भीमसेनको आठ, धृष्टद्युम्नको साठ, विराटको दस, ट्रुपदको पाँच, शिखण्डीको सात, केकयराजकुमारोंको पचीस, द्रौपदीपुत्रोंकी तीन-तीन तथा युधिष्ठिरको सत्तर तीखे बाणोंद्वारा घायल कर दिया। तत्पश्चात् बाणोंका बड़ा भारी जाल-सा बिछाकर उसने शेष सैनिकोंकों भी पीछे हटा दिया। यह एक अद्भुत-सी बात थी | ७-- ९ || अथास्य शितपीतेन भल्लेनादिश्य कार्मुकम् चिच्छेद प्रहसन् राजा धर्मपुत्र: प्रतापवान्,तब प्रतापी राजा धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिने एक तीखे और पानीदार भल्लके द्वारा उसके धनुषको काटनेकी घोषणा करके हँसते-हँसते काट डाला
sañjaya uvāca | sa sātvatikaṃ trīn bhīmasenaṃ aṣṭau dhṛṣṭadyumnaṃ ṣaṣṭiṃ virāṭaṃ daśa drupadaṃ pañca śikhaṇḍinaṃ sapta kekayarājakumārān pañcaviṃśatim draupadīputrān trīn-trīn yudhiṣṭhiraṃ saptatiṃ tīvrabāṇair viddhvā | tataḥ bāṇānāṃ mahājālaṃ iva vitatya śeṣasainyān api parāṅmukhān akarot | etad adbhutam iva | athāsya śitapītena bhallena ādiśya kārmukaṃ ciccheda prahasan rājā dharmaputraḥ pratāpavān ||
Sañjaya said: He struck Sātyaki with three sharp arrows, Bhīmasena with eight, Dhṛṣṭadyumna with sixty, Virāṭa with ten, Drupada with five, Śikhaṇḍin with seven, the princes of Kekaya with twenty-five, each of Draupadī’s sons with three, and Yudhiṣṭhira with seventy—wounding them with keen shafts. Then, spreading a vast net-like shower of arrows, he forced even the remaining troops to recoil. It was a sight of astonishing prowess. Thereafter the valiant king Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira), laughing, announced his aim and with a bright, razor-edged bhalla cut down his opponent’s bow.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid war’s chaos, the passage highlights disciplined skill and purposeful action: overwhelming force (the ‘net’ of arrows) can rout many, yet a single well-aimed, restrained counterstroke (severing the bow rather than killing) can decisively check aggression—an expression of kṣatriya-dharma guided by judgment.
A warrior showers key Pāṇḍava allies with specified numbers of arrows and drives the rest back with dense missile-fire. Then Yudhiṣṭhira (Dharmaputra) responds by cutting the attacker’s bow with a sharp bhalla arrow, publicly declaring his aim and doing so with confident composure.