Shloka 12
Book 9 (Śalya-parva), Adhyāya 13 — Arjuna’s Arrow-storm and the Drauṇi Confrontation
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत शल्यपर्वमें संकुलयुद्धाविषयक बारहवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,भीमसेनस्तु सप्तत्या सात्यकिर्नवभि: शरै:
iti prakāraśrīmahābhārate śalyaparvaṇi saṅkulayuddhaviṣayakaḥ dvādaśo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ | bhīmasenas tu saptatyā sātyakir navabhiḥ śaraiḥ ||
Thus, in the revered Mahābhārata, within the Śalya Parva, the twelfth chapter concerning the confusion and tumult of battle comes to its close. In that same clash, Bhīmasena was struck with seventy arrows, and Sātyaki with nine—an image of the war’s relentless violence, where even the foremost warriors endure suffering amid the moral darkness of fratricidal conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a closing marker (colophon) and underscores the harsh reality of war: even righteous-aligned heroes are wounded. Ethically, it highlights the cost of kṣatriya-duty in a fratricidal conflict—valor persists, yet suffering is unavoidable.
Sañjaya signals the completion of a chapter describing the confusion of battle, then briefly notes battlefield outcomes: Bhīmasena is pierced by seventy arrows and Sātyaki by nine, indicating the intensity of the ongoing combat.