Shloka 20
Bhīṣma–Karṇa Saṃvāda on the Śaraśayyā (भीष्म–कर्ण संवादः शरशय्यायाम्)
तत्राद्भुतमपश्याम रणे पार्थस्य विक्रमम् । शरै: संवार्य तान् वीरान् यज्जघान महाबल:
sañjaya uvāca | tatrādbhutam apaśyāma raṇe pārthasya vikramam | śaraiḥ saṃvārya tān vīrān yaj jaghāna mahābalaḥ | ekaikaṃ tribhir ānarccchat kaḍukabarhiṇavājitaiḥ |
Sañjaya dit : Là, sur le champ de bataille, je vis une merveilleuse manifestation de la vaillance de Pārtha. Ce guerrier d’une force immense contint ces héros par des volées de flèches et les abattit. Il perça chacun de trois traits—vifs et acérés, empennés comme des plumes de vautour—arrêtant ainsi les champions les plus éminents de l’ennemi et leur infligeant un dommage décisif au cœur du fracas des armes.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in its battlefield form: disciplined force used to restrain and neutralize dangerous opponents. It also underscores the ethical weight of eyewitness narration—Sañjaya reports not triumphalism but the astonishing effectiveness of Arjuna’s controlled martial skill.
Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna displayed extraordinary prowess in battle: he checked the enemy’s leading heroes with arrows and struck them decisively, piercing each with three swift, feathered shafts.