Shloka 9
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 94: Sātyaki–Sudarśana Yuddha (सात्यकि–सुदर्शन युद्ध)
तस्याशुक्षिप्तान् भल्लान् हि भल्लै: संनतपर्वभि: | प्रत्यविध्यदमेयात्मा ब्रह्मास्त्रं समुदीरयन्,अमेय आत्मबलसे सम्पन्न द्रोणाचार्यने अर्जुनके तुरंत चलाये हुए उन भल्ल्लोंको झुकी हुई गाँठवाले भल्लोंद्वारा ही काट दिया और ब्रह्मास्त्र प्रकट किया
sañjaya uvāca | tasyāśukṣiptān bhallān hi bhallaiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ | pratyavidhyad ameyātmā brahmāstraṃ samudīrayan |
Sañjaya said: Drona, whose spirit was unfathomable, instantly countered the bhalla-arrows that Arjuna had swiftly discharged—cutting them down with his own bhallas fitted with bent joints—and, escalating the contest, he invoked the Brahmāstra. The scene underscores how, in the heat of righteous war, mastery and restraint contend with the peril of resorting to supreme weapons whose use carries grave moral weight.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension in warfare: technical brilliance and immediate countermeasures can rapidly escalate into the use of catastrophic divine weapons (astra). It implicitly warns that power must be governed by discernment, since invoking supreme weapons carries disproportionate consequences.
Arjuna shoots bhalla-arrows at Drona. Drona promptly cuts/counters those arrows with his own specially jointed bhallas and then proceeds to invoke the Brahmāstra, intensifying the battle.