Shloka 35

Devanagari script

रणे विव्याध सप्तत्या स्वर्णपुड्खै: शिलाशितै: । महाराज! कृतवर्माने रणभूमिमें सानपर चढ़ाकर तेज किये हुए सुवर्णमय पंखवाले सत्तर बाणोंसे ट्रुपदपुत्र शिखण्डीको घायल कर दिया || ३४ $ ।। ततो<स्य समरे बाणं भोज: प्रहरतां वर:

Transliteration

raṇe vivyādha saptatyā svarṇapuḍkhaiḥ śilāśitaiḥ | mahārāja! kṛtavarmāṇe raṇabhūmau śānopari caḍhākara teja kiye hue suvarṇamaya pakhaṅvāle sattara bāṇoṃ se drupadaputra śikhaṇḍī ko ghāyal kara diyā || 34 || tato 'sya samare bāṇaṃ bhojaḥ praharatāṃ varaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, in that battle he pierced Śikhaṇḍī, the son of Drupada, with seventy arrows—gold-feathered and whetted on stone. Then, in the same combat, the Bhoja hero, foremost among those who strike, launched an arrow against him.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

अस्यof him/this (his)

समरेin battle

बाणम्arrow

भोजःthe Bhoja (king/warrior; here: Kṛtavarmā)

प्रहरताम्of those who strike/shoot

वरःbest, foremost

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Mahārāja)

Kṛtavarmā

Śikhaṇḍī

Drupada

battlefield (raṇabhūmi)

arrows (bāṇa)

gold-fletching (svarṇa-puḍkha)

whetstone/stone sharpening (śilā-śita)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the grim precision of warfare and the kṣatriya code of relentless engagement: skill and resolve are praised, yet the scene also implicitly raises the ethical weight of violence—heroic excellence operates within a tragic field where injury and escalation are inevitable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Kṛtavarmā wounds Śikhaṇḍī with seventy sharpened, gold-fletched arrows on the battlefield; immediately afterward, the Bhoja hero (Kṛtavarmā) continues the assault by shooting another arrow in the ongoing fight.