Shloka 8
तावेकरथमारूढौ भ्रातरौ वृषकाचलौ । शरवर्षेण बीभत्सुमविध्येतां मुहुर्मुहु:,इस प्रकार एक रथपर बैठे हुए वे दोनों भाई वृषक और अचल बारंबार बाणोंकी वर्षासे अर्जुनको घायल करने लगे
tāv ekaratham ārūḍhau bhrātarau vṛṣakācalau | śaravarṣeṇa bībhatsum avidhyetāṃ muhur muhuḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Those two brothers, Vṛṣa and Acala, mounted on a single chariot, repeatedly struck Arjuna (Bībhatsu) with a shower of arrows. The scene underscores the relentless pressure of battle—where coordinated force and persistence are used to overwhelm even a foremost warrior, raising the ethical tension between martial duty and the brutal mechanics of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield reality that even the greatest warrior can be pressured by coordinated, persistent assault; it frames the ethical tension of kṣatriya-duty—steadfastness amid violence—without celebrating cruelty, emphasizing endurance and resolve under relentless opposition.
Sañjaya reports that the two brothers Vṛṣa and Acala, riding together on a single chariot, repeatedly shower Arjuna with arrows, wounding him again and again in the ongoing combat of Droṇa Parva.