Shloka 6
तैरस्तमुच्चावचमायुध॑ त- देक: प्रचिच्छेद किरीटमाली । क्षुरार्धचन्द्रेनिशितैश्व भल््लै: शिरांसि तेषां बहुधा च बाहून्
sañjaya uvāca | tair astam uccāvacam āyudhaṁ tad ekaḥ praciccheda kirīṭamālī | kṣurārdhacandrena niśitaiś ca bhallaiḥ śirāṁsi teṣāṁ bahudhā ca bāhūn |
Sañjaya said: With razor-edged shafts, crescent-headed arrows, and keen bhallas, the diademed Arjuna—single-handed—cut down all those varied weapons they hurled at him. He also severed many of their heads and arms, so that the warriors fell to the earth in scattered pieces, disfigured like forests torn up by a raging storm.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim moral atmosphere of war: when conflict becomes inevitable, mastery and resolve can bring swift results, yet those results are inherently destructive. It implicitly contrasts martial excellence with the tragic fragmentation of life that war produces.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna, the diademed warrior, single-handedly cutting down the enemy’s incoming weapons and then severing many opponents’ heads and arms with sharp, specialized arrows (kṣura, ardhacandra, bhalla), causing them to fall in pieces like storm-uprooted forests.