Shloka 5
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
द्रोणं पडचाशतेषूणां कर्ण च दशभि: शरै: | दुर्योधन द्वादशभिद्रौणिमष्टाभिराशुगै:,उन्होंने द्रोणको पचास, कर्णको दस, दुर्योधनको बारह और अश्व॒त्थामाको आठ बाण मारे
droṇaṁ pañcāśatā iṣūṇāṁ karṇaṁ ca daśabhiḥ śaraiḥ | duryodhanaṁ dvādaśabhir drauṇim aṣṭābhir āśugaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: He struck Droṇa with fifty arrows, Karṇa with ten, Duryodhana with twelve, and Droṇa’s son Aśvatthāman with eight swift shafts—an act of measured yet relentless prowess amid the moral darkness of fratricidal war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined force and tactical precision in battle, while implicitly reminding the reader that even exemplary skill operates within the tragic ethical tension of a war among kin—where duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and moral cost collide.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s rapid volley of arrows: Droṇa is hit with fifty, Karṇa with ten, Duryodhana with twelve, and Aśvatthāman with eight swift arrows, indicating an intense exchange and the attacker’s dominance in that moment.