Shloka 9
भीष्मस्य शरशय्या-प्राप्तिः
Bhīṣma’s Fall to the Arrow-Bed
तस्य प्राग्ज्योतिषो राजा माधवस्य महद् धनु: । चिच्छेद शतधारेण भल्लेन कृतहस्तवत्
tasya prāgjyotiṣo rājā mādhavasya mahad dhanuḥ | ciccheda śatadhāreṇa bhallena kṛtahastavat ||
サンジャヤは言った。するとプラーグジョーティシャの王バガダッタは、百の刃を備えるかのような幅広の鏃の矢をもって、名手のごとき正確さでマーダヴァの大弓を断ち切った。戦のダルマが漂うこの場面は、技と決意が相手の「行為の手段」を断つために用いられること――苛烈な戦の掟の中での戦術的必然――を浮き彫りにする。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the battlefield ethic where trained skill (kṛtahastatā) and decisive action are used to neutralize an opponent’s capacity to fight—here by severing the bow—reflecting the severe, duty-bound logic of kṣatriya warfare.
Sañjaya narrates that Bhagadatta, the ruler of Prāgjyotiṣa, strikes with a many-edged bhalla-arrow and cuts Mādhava’s great bow, demonstrating expert marksmanship and shifting the immediate balance of the duel.