Shloka 28
पुत्री तयोर्नरश्रेष्ठी कौन्तेयं प्रतिजग्मतुः । किरन्तौ विविधान् बाणान् पितृव्यसनकर्शितौ,भारत! श्रुतायु तथा अच्युतायुको मारा गया देख उन दोनोंके पुत्र नरश्रेष्ठ नियतायु और दीर्घायु पिताके वधसे दु:खी हो अत्यन्त क्रोधमें भरकर नाना प्रकारके बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनका सामना करनेके लिये आये
sañjaya uvāca |
putrī tayor naraśreṣṭhī kaunteyaṃ pratijagmatūḥ |
kirantau vividhān bāṇān pitṛvyasanakarśitau ||
bhārata! śrutāyu tathā acyutāyuko mārā gayā dekh un donoṃke putra naraśreṣṭha niyatāyu aur dīrghāyu pitāke vadhase duḥkhī ho atyanta krodhameṃ bharakar nānā prakārake bāṇoṃkī varṣā karate hue kuntīkumar arjunakā sāmnā karaneke liye āye
Sanjaya said: O Bharata, the two foremost of men—sons of those fallen warriors—came forward to confront Kunti’s son Arjuna. Grief-stricken by their father’s death and consumed by rage, they rained down many kinds of arrows as they advanced against him. The scene shows how bereavement in war quickly turns into retaliatory fury, tightening the cycle of violence on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a recurring ethical tension in epic warfare: personal grief (from a father’s death) easily becomes anger and revenge, which perpetuates violence. It implicitly warns how attachment and retaliation can override discernment even among noble warriors.
Sanjaya reports that two prominent warriors—identified here as Niyatayu and Dirghayu (linked in the Hindi gloss to Shrutayu and Achyutayu)—advance to face Arjuna. Distressed by their father’s death, they attack by showering him with many kinds of arrows.