Shloka 34

भीष्मस्य अप्रतिमपराक्रमः — शिखण्डिपुरस्कृतः प्रहारः

Bhīṣma’s unmatched momentum and the assault with Śikhaṇḍin in the lead

Devanagari script

दुःशासनस्सत्रिभि: क्रुद्धः पार्थ विव्याध पत्रिभि: | ललाटे भरतश्रेष्ठ शरै: संनतपर्वभि:,भरतश्रेष्ठ) तब दुःशासनने कुपित होकर अर्जुनके ललाटमें झुकी हुई गाँठवाले तीन पंखयुक्त बाण मारे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | duḥśāsanaḥ sa-tribhiḥ kruddhaḥ pārthaṃ vivyādha patribhiḥ | lalāṭe bharataśreṣṭha śaraiḥ saṃnata-parvabhiḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: Enfurecido, Duḥśāsana hirió a Pārtha (Arjuna) con tres flechas emplumadas, oh el mejor de los Bhāratas—flechas cuyos nudos se curvaban hacia abajo—y le dio en la frente. La escena muestra cómo la ira en el campo de batalla empuja a la violencia dirigida, mientras el guerrero justo es probado en resistencia y dominio de sí ante la provocación.

Word by Word

दुःशासनःDuhshasana

त्रिभिःwith three

क्रुद्धःangry

पार्थO Partha (Arjuna)

विव्याधpierced / struck

पत्रिभिःwith feathered (arrows)

ललाटेon the forehead

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

शरैःwith arrows

संनतपर्वभिःwith (arrows) having bent joints/knots

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Duḥśāsana

Arjuna (Pārtha)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by vocative bharataśreṣṭha)

three feathered arrows

forehead (lalāṭa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) manifests as deliberate harm in war, while the ethical test for a righteous warrior is to remain steady and disciplined under provocation, not letting wrath dictate conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duḥśāsana, furious, shoots Arjuna with three fletched arrows, striking his forehead—an immediate battlefield action within the Bhīṣma Parva war narration.