Shloka 87
द्रोणकर्णयोः निशि संप्रहारः — Night Engagement with Droṇa and Karṇa
मद्रराज शल्यने कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनको तीस बाणोंसे घायल कर दिया। कृपाचार्यने भगवान् श्रीकृष्णको बीस बाण मारे और अर्जुनपर बारह बाणोंका प्रहार किया ।। चतुर्भि: सिन्धुराजश्न वृषसेनश्न सप्तभि: । पृथक् पृथड्महाराज विव्यधु: कृष्णपाण्डवौ,महाराज! फिर सिन्धुराजने चार और वृषसेनने सात बाणोंद्वारा श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनको पृथक्-पृथक् घायल कर दिया
sañjaya uvāca | madrarājaḥ śalyaḥ kuntīkumāram arjunaṃ triṃśadbhir bāṇair āhatavān | kṛpācāryaḥ bhagavantaṃ śrīkṛṣṇaṃ viṃśatibhir bāṇair avidhyat, arjune ca dvādaśa bāṇān prāhiṇot | caturbhiḥ sindhurājaś ca vṛṣasenaś ca saptabhiḥ | pṛthak pṛthag mahārāja vivyadhuḥ kṛṣṇapāṇḍavau ||
Sañjaya dit : Le roi Śalya de Madra frappa Arjuna, fils de Kuntī, de trente flèches. Kṛpācārya ensuite perça le Seigneur Śrī Kṛṣṇa de vingt flèches et tira aussi douze traits sur Arjuna. Puis, ô Roi, le souverain du Sindhu, de quatre flèches, et Vṛṣasena, de sept, blessèrent séparément Kṛṣṇa et le Pāṇḍava (Arjuna). La scène souligne l’escalade inexorable du combat : même le cocher, incarnation de la guidance divine, est traité en combattant, tandis qu’Arjuna demeure le point focal d’une hostilité concentrée.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh momentum of war: even the presence of divine guidance (Kṛṣṇa as charioteer) does not remove the immediate dangers of the battlefield. Ethically, it reflects how kṣatriya-duty is portrayed as steadfast endurance amid escalating aggression, while also hinting at the tragic normalization of violence when dharma is contested through arms.
Sañjaya reports a sequence of attacks: Śalya wounds Arjuna with thirty arrows; Kṛpa shoots Kṛṣṇa with twenty and Arjuna with twelve; then Jayadratha (Sindhurāja) and Vṛṣasena further wound Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna separately with four and seven arrows respectively.