Shloka 12

Devanagari script

ततो दुर्योधनो राजा धर्मशीलस्य मारिष । शिलाशितेन भल्लेन धरनुश्चिच्छेद संयुगे,मान्यवर! तदनन्तर युद्धस्थलमें राजा दुर्योधनने सानपर चढ़ाकर तेज किये हुए भल्लसे धर्मात्मा राजा युधिष्ठिरका धनुष काट दिया

Transliteration

tato duryodhano rājā dharmaśīlasya māriṣa | śilāśitena bhallena dhanuś ciccheda saṁyuge ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。ついで、尊き御方よ、戦のただ中でドゥルヨーダナ王は、砥石で研ぎ澄ました幅広の鏃の矢を放ち、ダルマに篤い王の弓を断ち切った。

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

दुर्योधनःDuryodhana

राजाking

धर्मशीलस्यof the righteous-natured

मारिषO venerable one (sir)

शिलाशितेनsharpened on a whetstone

भल्लेनwith a bhalla-arrow (broad-headed arrow)

धनुःbow

चिच्छेदcut, severed

संयुगेin battle

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Duryodhana

Yudhishthira (implied by 'dharmaśīla' and the Hindi gloss)

bhalla (broad-headed arrow)

dhanuḥ (bow)

battlefield (saṁyuga)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, skill and decisive action can momentarily overpower moral stature; it implicitly invites reflection on the tension between dharma (righteous character) and the harsh mechanics of battlefield strategy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports that Duryodhana strikes effectively in combat, using a whetstone-sharpened broad-headed arrow to sever the opponent’s bow—identified in the Gita Press gloss as Yudhishthira—thereby disrupting his fighting capacity.