Shloka 22
प्रतिविन्ध्यो धनुश्छित्त्वा तस्य भारत सायकै: । पजञ्चभिर्निशितैर्बाणैरथैनं स हि जध्निवान्
prativindhyo dhanuś chittvā tasya bhārata sāyakaiḥ | pañcabhir niśitair bāṇair athainaṃ sa hi jadhnivān ||
Sañjaya said: Prativindhya cut down his opponent’s bow with his arrows; then, O Bhārata, with five keen shafts he struck him down. The scene underscores the grim efficiency of battlefield skill—where martial prowess, once turned to lethal precision, swiftly decides life and death amid the larger moral tragedy of fratricidal war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh reality of kṣatriya warfare: technical mastery (disarming by cutting the bow) becomes decisive and lethal. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension—dharma-bound duty in battle versus the sorrowful cost of violence within a kinship war.
Sañjaya reports that Prativindhya first severs his opponent’s bow with arrows, then follows up with five sharp arrows and brings the opponent down (kills or mortally fells him), marking a swift turn in the combat.