Shloka 94
Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)
कृतवर्मा च समरे याज्ञसेनिं महारथम् | विद्ध्वेषुभिस्त्रिसप्तत्या पुनर्विव्याध सप्तभि:,कृतवर्माने समरांगणमें महारथी शिखण्डीको पहले तिहत्तर बाणोंसे घायल करके फिर सात बाणोंसे क्षत-विक्षत कर दिया
kṛtavarmā ca samare yājñaseniṃ mahāratham | viddhv eṣubhis trisaptatyā punar vivyādha saptabhiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, Kṛtavarmā struck the great chariot-warrior Śikhaṇḍin (the son of Drupada, called Yājñaseni) with seventy-three arrows; and then, once more, he pierced him with seven additional shafts. The verse underscores the relentless, escalating violence of the war—where prowess is measured in repeated wounding—while reminding the listener that even renowned heroes are reduced to targets amid the momentum of vengeance and duty-bound combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, skill and resolve manifest as repeated, decisive strikes; ethically, it points to the grim reality of kṣatriya-duty where valor is enacted through harm, and renowned warriors become instruments within a larger, tragic momentum of conflict.
Sañjaya reports that Kṛtavarmā, fighting on the battlefield, wounds the great warrior Śikhaṇḍin with seventy-three arrows and then again with seven more, emphasizing the intensity and dominance of the assault in that moment.