Shloka 35
Chapter 12: Arjuna’s suppression of the Saṃśaptakas and duel with Aśvatthāmā
Drauṇi
ततः कुलूताधिपतिश्लापमानम्य सायकै: । दशभिस्तोमरं भित्त्वा षष्ट्या विव्याध पाण्डवम्,यह देख कुलूतदेशके राजा क्षेमधूर्तिने अपने धनुषको नवाकर दस सायकोंसे उस तोमरको काट डाला और साठ बाण मारकर भीमसेनको भी घायल कर दिया सवर्मा केकयो राजन द्विधा छिन्नो महारणे
tataḥ kulūtādhipatiḥ ślāpamānamya sāyakaiḥ | daśabhis tomaraṁ bhittvā ṣaṣṭyā vivyādha pāṇḍavam ||
Sañjaya said: Then the lord of Kulūta, bending his bow and shooting arrows, shattered that tomara with ten shafts; and with sixty more he pierced the Pāṇḍava warrior. In the fierce press of battle, the Kekaya king Savarmā was cut asunder into two.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the harsh reality of kṣatriya-dharma in war: skill and resolve are praised, yet the narrative also shows the grave cost—wounding and death—reminding readers that martial excellence operates within a tragic moral landscape where duty and destruction coexist.
Sañjaya reports rapid battlefield action: the Kulūta ruler draws his bow, breaks an incoming tomara with ten arrows, then strikes a Pāṇḍava warrior with sixty arrows. In the same great battle, the Kekaya king Savarmā is severed into two.