Shloka 39
भीष्मस्य अप्रतिमपराक्रमः — शिखण्डिपुरस्कृतः प्रहारः
Bhīṣma’s unmatched momentum and the assault with Śikhaṇḍin in the lead
तस्य पार्थो धनुश्कछित्त्वा रथं चास्य त्रिभि: शरै: । आजघान ततः पश्चात् पुत्र ते निशितै: शरैः,तब अर्जुनने तीन बाणोंसे दुःशासनके रथ और धनुषको छिन्न-भिन्न करके आपके उस पुत्रको पैने बाणोंद्वारा अच्छी तरह घायल किया
tasya pārtho dhanuś chittvā rathaṁ cāsya tribhiḥ śaraiḥ | ājaghāna tataḥ paścāt putra te niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then Pārtha (Arjuna) cut down his bow and, with three arrows, shattered his chariot. Thereafter, O King, he struck your son again and again with keen shafts, grievously wounding him—an episode that underscores how, in the ruthless ethics of battlefield duty, superior skill is employed to disable an opponent’s means of fighting before delivering decisive blows.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the hard-edged discipline of kṣatriya-dharma in war: a warrior first neutralizes the opponent’s capacity to fight (bow and chariot) and then delivers forceful strikes. It reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between compassion and duty within the sanctioned violence of a righteous battle.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna (Pārtha) severs the enemy’s bow, breaks the chariot with three arrows, and then wounds the king’s son with sharp arrows, demonstrating Arjuna’s dominance in that exchange.