Shloka 14
शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host
with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter
त्रिभि: शरैरसम्भ्रान्तो ललाटे वै समार्पयत् । धनुष कट जानेपर उनके ललाटमें शिलापर तेज किये हुए सुनहरे पंखवाले तीन बाणोंद्वारा गहरी चोट पहुँचायी। उस समय चित्रसेनके चित्तमें तनिक भी घबराहट नहीं हुई ।। हयांश्वास्य शरैस्तीक्ष्णै: प्रेषयामास मृत्यवे
sañjaya uvāca | tribhiḥ śarair asambhrānto lalāṭe vai samārpayat | hayāṁś cāsya śarais tīkṣṇaiḥ preṣayāmāsa mṛtyave ||
Sañjaya said: Unflustered, he planted three arrows upon his opponent’s forehead. Then, with sharp shafts, he also dispatched the horses toward death. The scene underscores the grim precision of battlefield skill—steadfastness without panic on one side, and the ruthless necessities of war on the other.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights asambhrānti—steadiness and absence of panic—as a decisive martial virtue, while also reminding that war, even when executed with skill and composure, entails harsh and irreversible outcomes (the killing of warriors and even their horses).
In Sañjaya’s report of the battle, a warrior calmly strikes the opponent’s forehead with three arrows and then shoots the opponent’s horses with sharp arrows, effectively sending them to death and crippling the chariot’s mobility.