Shloka 31
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)
त्रिभिरेव महा भाग: शरै: संनतपर्वभि: | महाराज! इधर महाभाग सात्यकिने भी झुकी हुई गाँठवाले तीन बाणोंद्वारा दुःशासनकी छातीमें चोट पहुँचायी ।। ततो<स्य वाहान् निशितै: शरैर्जघ्ने महारथ:
sañjaya uvāca |
tribhir eva mahābhāgaḥ śaraiḥ sannatapārva-bhiḥ |
mahārāja! idha mahābhāgaḥ sātyakine bhī jhukī huī gāṁṭhavāle tīn bāṇoṁdvārā duḥśāsanasya chātī meṁ coṭa pahuṁcāyī ||
tato 'sya vāhān niśitaiḥ śarair jaghne mahārathaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O King, with just three arrows—each fitted with well-bent, knotted joints—the illustrious warrior struck Duḥśāsana on the chest. Thereafter that great chariot-warrior, with keen shafts, began to strike down his horses as well. The scene underscores the ruthless precision of battlefield skill, where prowess is displayed without pause, even as the larger war continues to test the bounds of righteousness and restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, technical mastery and decisive action can rapidly change outcomes; ethically, it also points to the tension between necessary martial duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and the escalating harshness of combat, where disabling an opponent’s mobility (striking horses) becomes a strategic, morally weighty act.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Sātyaki wounds Duḥśāsana on the chest with three well-made arrows, and then the great warrior proceeds to strike at (and disable/kill) Duḥśāsana’s horses with sharp arrows, intensifying the engagement.