Shloka 69
धनुश्रिच्छेद संक्रुद्धो विव्याध च शितै: शरै: । राजन्! उसने अपने बाणोंद्वारा भीमसेनपर सब ओरसे बारंबार प्रहार किया, किंतु प्रतापी भीमसेनने बड़े वेगसे उसके बाणोंको नष्ट करके अत्यन्त कुपित हो उसका धनुष काट डाला और पैने बाणोंसे उसे घायल कर दिया ।।
dhanurśriccheda-saṅkruddho vivyādha ca śitaiḥ śaraiḥ | rājan, saḥ svabāṇair bhīmasenam sarvataḥ punar-punaḥ prāharat, kintu pratāpī bhīmaseno mahāvegāt tasya bāṇān vidhvaṃsya atyantaṃ kupitaḥ san tasya dhanur acchinat, śitaiś ca śaraiḥ taṃ vyadhat ||
Sañjaya said: Enraged at the cutting of his bow, he struck Bhīmasena with sharp arrows. O King, he assailed Bhīma again and again from every side; yet the mighty Bhīmasena swiftly shattered those arrows, and, blazing with anger, cut down his opponent’s bow and wounded him with keen shafts.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger (krodha) rapidly intensifies violence: repeated attacks provoke an even harsher counterstrike. Ethically, it illustrates the battlefield tension between kṣatriya duty to fight and the peril of losing inner restraint, where prowess becomes inseparable from wrath-driven escalation.
A warrior, furious that his bow has been cut, showers Bhīmasena with sharp arrows from all sides. Bhīma swiftly destroys the incoming arrows, then—now fully enraged—cuts the opponent’s bow and wounds him with keen shafts, turning defense into decisive retaliation.