Shloka 16
श्रुतकीर्ति च नवभि: सुतसोमं च पठ्चभि: । अष्टशभि: श्रुतकर्माणं प्रतिविन्ध्यं त्रिभि: शरै:,श्रुतकीर्तेस्तथा चापं चिच्छेद निशितै: शरैः । फिर श्रुतकीर्तिको नौ, सुतसोमको पाँच, श्रुतकर्माको आठ, प्रतिविन्ध्यको तीन, शतानीकको नौ, धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिरको पाँच तथा अन्य शूरवीरोंको दो-दो बाणोंसे पीट दिया। इसके सिवा उसने पैने बाणोंद्वारा श्रुतकीर्तिके धनुषको भी काट दिया
śrutakīrtiṃ ca navabhiḥ sutasomaṃ ca pañcabhiḥ | aṣṭabhiḥ śrutakarmāṇaṃ prativindhyaṃ tribhiḥ śaraiḥ | śrutakīrtes tathā cāpaṃ ciccheda niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: He struck Śrutakīrti with nine arrows, Sutasoma with five, Śrutakarmā with eight, and Prativindhya with three. Then, with razor-sharp shafts, he also cut down Śrutakīrti’s bow. The scene underscores the grim precision of battlefield skill—where valor is measured in restraint and aim, yet the moral weight of kin-slaying and relentless escalation continues to darken the war’s dharmic horizon.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the disciplined precision of a warrior in battle—counted arrows, targeted strikes, and disabling an opponent’s weapon—while implicitly reminding the listener that technical prowess in war does not erase the accumulating moral burden of violence within a fratricidal conflict.
Sañjaya reports that a combatant shoots specific warriors—Śrutakīrti, Sutasoma, Śrutakarmā, and Prativindhya—with a set number of arrows, and then severs Śrutakīrti’s bow with sharp arrows, a tactical move to neutralize him.