Shloka 37
Droṇa’s Rebuke to Duryodhana after Jayadratha’s Fall (द्रोणेन दुर्योधनं प्रति प्रत्युक्तिः)
ततो युधिष्िरो राजा भल्लाभ्यामच्छिनद् धनु:
tato yudhiṣṭhiro rājā bhallābhyām acchinad dhanuḥ
Sañjaya dit : Alors le roi Yudhiṣṭhira, avec la fermeté attendue d’un souverain fidèle au dharma sous la contrainte de la guerre, trancha l’arc de l’ennemi de deux flèches bhalla acérées—geste visant à contenir la violence en désarmant plutôt qu’en anéantissant.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, dharma can express itself as restraint and proportionality: disabling an opponent’s capacity to harm (by cutting the bow) can be a more ethically controlled response than indiscriminate killing, aligning royal duty with measured force.
Sañjaya reports that Yudhiṣṭhira strikes with two bhalla arrows and severs a bow—an episode of battlefield skill and tactics where disarmament shifts the immediate balance of combat.