Shloka 28
त्रिपुरदाह-इतिहासः
Tripura-destruction exemplum and counsel to Śalya
तस्य ती&णैर्महावेगैर्भल्लै: संनतपर्वभि: । व्यहनत् कार्मुकं राजंस्तूणीरांश्वैव सर्वश:
tasya tīṣṇair mahāvegair bhallaiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ | vyahanat kārmukaṃ rājan tūṇīrāṃś caiva sarvaśaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: With razor-sharp, high-velocity bhalla arrows—fitted with well-jointed shafts—he struck down his bow, O King, and likewise shattered his quivers completely. In the ruthless logic of battle, this is a deliberate act of disarming: not merely wounding the warrior, but cutting off his capacity to fight, turning skill and valor into helplessness for a moment.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a battlefield ethic where victory is pursued through strategic disarming—neutralizing an opponent’s means to fight rather than only inflicting bodily harm. It underscores how power in war often lies in controlling capability (weapons, resources), raising ethical reflection on whether disabling is a form of restraint or simply another efficient mode of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior (contextually, the opponent of the one being described) uses swift, sharp bhalla arrows to strike and break the other’s bow and to destroy his quivers, effectively leaving him without immediate means to continue archery in the fight.