Shloka 266
Adhyāya 35 — Bhīmasena’s Counter-Encirclement and the Karṇa Engagement Escalation
पाण्डवानां विनाशाय दुर्योधनजयाय च । “शल्य! आज मैं पाण्डवोंके विनाश और दुर्योधनकी विजयके लिये अत्यन्त तीखे बाण चलाऊँगा'
pāṇḍavānāṁ vināśāya duryodhana-jayāya ca | “śalya! adya ahaṁ pāṇḍavānāṁ vināśaṁ duryodhanasya jayaṁ ca kṛte atyanta-tīkṣṇān bāṇān calayiṣyāmi”
Sañjaya said: “O Śalya, today, for the destruction of the Pāṇḍavas and for Duryodhana’s victory, I shall discharge exceedingly sharp arrows.” The utterance frames the battle as a deliberate, goal-driven act of annihilation, revealing the ethical hardening that war can produce when victory is pursued at the cost of kin and righteousness.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how intention (saṅkalpa) shapes moral responsibility: the speaker explicitly aims at the Pāṇḍavas’ destruction for the sake of Duryodhana’s victory. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical landscape, such goal-oriented violence illustrates the tension between kṣatriya warfare and dharma when victory becomes the overriding end.
In the Karṇa Parva battle setting, a warrior declares to Śalya that he will unleash extremely sharp arrows that day, explicitly stating the objectives—destroy the Pāṇḍavas and secure Duryodhana’s triumph. Sañjaya reports this to Dhṛtarāṣṭra as part of the unfolding combat narration.