Shloka 90
तान् पञ्च भल्लैर्दशभि: सुमुक्ति- स्त्रिधा त्रिधैकेकमथोच्चकर्त । धनंजयास्त्रैन्यपतन् पृथिव्यां महाहयस्तक्षकपुत्रपक्षा:
tān pañca bhallair daśabhiḥ sumuktis tridha tridhā ekam athoccakarta | dhanañjayāstrāi nyapatan pṛthivyāṃ mahāhayas takṣakaputrapakṣāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: With five sharp bhalla arrows—well released—he cut them down, splitting them again and again, and then severed one more. Struck by Arjuna’s missiles, the great horses—swift as the offspring of Takṣaka—fell upon the earth. The verse underscores the grim precision of martial skill: in war, mastery of weapons becomes decisive, yet its fruits are the immediate suffering and collapse of living beings on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the decisive power of disciplined skill (śastra-kauśala) in kṣatriya warfare, while implicitly reminding the listener that such prowess manifests as real, immediate harm—living beings (the horses) fall, and victory is purchased through suffering.
Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where expertly released arrows sever their targets repeatedly; then Arjuna (Dhanañjaya), using his astras, strikes down the great, swift horses—likened to the offspring of the nāga Takṣaka—so that they collapse onto the ground.