Shloka 38
भीष्मस्य अप्रतिमपराक्रमः — शिखण्डिपुरस्कृतः प्रहारः
Bhīṣma’s unmatched momentum and the assault with Śikhaṇḍin in the lead
पीड्यमानो बलवता पुत्रस्तव विशाम्पते । विव्याध समरे पार्थ कड्कपत्रै: शिलाशितै:,प्रजानाथ! बलवान अर्जुनके द्वारा पीड़ित होनेपर आपके पुत्रने शानपर चढ़ाकर तेज किये हुए कंक-पत्रयुक्त बाणोंद्वारा समरभूमिमें उन कुन्तीकुमारको बींध डाला
sañjaya uvāca |
pīḍyamāno balavatā putras tava viśāmpate |
vivyādha samare pārtha kaṅkapatraiḥ śilāśitaiḥ ||
prajānātha! balavān arjunakena pīḍitaḥ san tava putraḥ śāṇopacchinnaiḥ tīkṣṇīkṛtaiḥ kaṅkapatrayuktaiḥ bāṇaiḥ samara-bhūmau tān kuntīkumārān vivyādha |
Sañjaya said: O lord of the people, O ruler of men! Though hard-pressed by the mighty Arjuna, your son, in the thick of battle, struck the son of Pṛthā with arrows whose feathers were like those of a heron and whose points had been sharpened on stone. The scene underscores the grim reciprocity of war: even when overpowered, a warrior answers force with force, sustaining the cycle of injury that the conflict’s adharma has set in motion.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya impulse to respond with steadfast resistance even when overwhelmed. Ethically, it points to the tragic momentum of war: injury provokes counter-injury, and personal valor operates within a larger conflict whose consequences entangle all sides.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, although Arjuna is powerfully pressing him, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son retaliates on the battlefield by piercing Pārtha with stone-sharpened, heron-feathered arrows.