Shloka 2
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
द्रौर्णि विव्याध समरे त्रिभिरेव शिलीमुखै: । तथेतरान् महेष्वासान द्वाभ्यां द्वाभ्यां धनंजय:
drauṇiṁ vivyādha samare tribhir eva śilīmukhaiḥ | tathetarān maheṣvāsān dvābhyāṁ dvābhyāṁ dhanañjayaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) struck Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāmā) with three sharp arrows. In the same manner, he pierced the other great bowmen as well, two arrows apiece—an image of disciplined force used with measured precision amid the chaos of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined, proportionate action in a dharmic battlefield context: Arjuna’s controlled precision—assigning three arrows to a principal foe and two each to others—suggests mastery that avoids wasteful or reckless violence while fulfilling a warrior’s duty.
Sañjaya reports Arjuna’s performance in combat: he wounds Aśvatthāmā (Droṇa’s son) with three arrows and similarly strikes other prominent archers with two arrows each, emphasizing Arjuna’s dominance and tactical efficiency in the ongoing Kurukṣetra war.