Shloka 12

Devanagari script

शिखण्डी तु महाबाणान्‌ यान्‌ मुमोच महारथ:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | śikhaṇḍī tu mahābāṇān yān mumoca mahārathaḥ, atāḍayan raṇe bhīṣmaṃ sahitāḥ sarvasṛñjayāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Alors Śikhaṇḍī, grand guerrier de char, décocha de puissantes flèches ; et, tous unis, les Sṛñjayas frappèrent Bhīṣma dans la bataille. Ne faisant qu’un, ils l’assaillirent de toutes parts, cherchant à user l’aïeul par une pression incessante — épisode qui montre comment, à la guerre, la stratégie collective et l’exploitation d’une faiblesse connue peuvent l’emporter même sur le plus juste et le plus redoutable des anciens.

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'śikhaṇḍī': 'Śikhaṇḍī (Pāṇḍava-aligned warrior

• key to Bhīṣma’s fall)', 'tu': 'then

• indeed', 'mahābāṇān': 'great/mighty arrows', 'yān': 'which', 'mumoca': 'released

• shot forth', 'mahārathaḥ': 'a great chariot-warrior', 'atāḍayan': 'they struck

• smote', 'raṇe': 'in battle', 'bhīṣmam': 'Bhīṣma', 'sahitāḥ': 'together

• united', 'sarva-sṛñjayāḥ': 'all the Sṛñjayas (Pāṇḍava confederates)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Śikhaṇḍī
• Bhīṣma
• Sṛñjayas
• mahābāṇa (mighty arrows)
• raṇa (battlefield)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the mightiest warrior can be brought down when opponents act in disciplined unity and exploit a moral or situational constraint. The verse invites reflection on the ethics of victory: success in war often depends not only on strength but on strategy that targets an adversary’s known limitation—raising questions about dharma in combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Śikhaṇḍī releases powerful arrows and, along with all the Sṛñjaya warriors, attacks Bhīṣma from all sides on the battlefield, intensifying the assault that leads toward Bhīṣma’s eventual incapacitation.