Shloka 9
शिखण्डिनं षड़्भिरविध्यदुग्रो धार्शद्युम्ने: स शिरश्नोच्चकर्त । तथाभिनत् सुतसोम॑ शरेण सुसंशितेनाधिरथिमीहात्मा
sañjaya uvāca |
śikhaṇḍinaṃ ṣaḍbhir avidhyad ugro dhārṣṭadyumneḥ sa śiraś noccakarta |
tathābhinat sutasomaṃ śareṇa su-saṃśitena adhirathim īhātmā ||
Lalu Karṇa yang garang menembus Śikhaṇḍin dengan enam anak panah dan menebas kepala putra Dhṛṣṭadyumna. Dalam serbuan yang sama, putra Adhiratha yang berhati luhur itu juga melukai Sutasoma dengan sebuah panah yang diasah tajam.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grim efficiency of war: martial excellence can achieve swift results, yet it also intensifies the moral weight of battlefield actions. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical horizon, such scenes invite reflection on how kṣatriya duty, personal prowess, and the human cost of violence collide.
Sañjaya reports that Karṇa strikes Śikhaṇḍin with six arrows, decapitates Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s son, and then wounds Sutasoma with a very sharp arrow—depicting Karṇa’s rapid succession of lethal feats in the ongoing Kurukṣetra battle.