Shloka 28
दण्डधारवधः | The Slaying of Daṇḍadhāra
एतस्मिन्नेव काले तु रथादाप्लुत्य भारत | शक्ति चिक्षेप चित्राय स्वर्णदण्डामलंकृताम्,भारत! इसी बीचमें रथसे कूदकर प्रतिविन्ध्यने चित्रपर एक सुवर्णमय दण्डवाली सुसज्जित शक्ति चलायी
etasminn eva kāle tu rathād āplutya bhārata | śaktiṃ cikṣepa citrāya svarṇadaṇḍām alaṅkṛtām ||
Sañjaya said: At that very moment, O Bhārata, leaping down from his chariot, he hurled a splendid śakti (javelin) toward Citra, adorned with a golden shaft. The verse highlights the sudden, decisive violence of battlefield action—where skill and resolve are turned into lethal intent, underscoring the grim ethical tension of war in which valor is inseparable from harm.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse does not preach directly; it illustrates the battlefield reality where resolve and prowess manifest as immediate action. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: kṣatriya duty and valor operate within a tragic arena where excellence in arms still produces suffering.
Sañjaya reports that, at that instant, a warrior jumps down from his chariot and hurls a decorated śakti (javelin) at a figure named Citra, emphasizing the sudden escalation and close-quarters intensity of the fight.