Shloka 126

Devanagari script

नकुलस्य महाराज मुष्टिदेशे5च्छिनद्‌ धनु: । महाराज! इतनेहीमें चित्रसेनने एक पानीदार पैने भल्लके द्वारा नकुलके धनुषको मुट्ठी पकड़नेकी जगहसे काट दिया

Transliteration

nakulasya mahārāja muṣṭideśe 'cchinad dhanuḥ |

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。「大王よ、チトラセーナは鋭くよく鍛えられたバッラ（bhalla）の矢で、ナクラの弓を握りの部分—手が掴むところ—から断ち切り、戦いのただ中でその武器を無力化した。」

Word by Word

• नकुलस्य: of Nakula
• नकुलस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नकुल
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• मुष्टिदेशे: at the grip/handle region
• मुष्टिदेशे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुष्टि-देश
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• अच्छिनत्: cut off / severed
• Type: Verb
• Root: छिद्
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• धनुः: bow
• धनुः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धनुस्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Nakula
• Citrasena
• bow (dhanuḥ)
• bhalla (arrow)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that in battle, mastery and discernment can achieve victory by disabling an opponent’s capacity to fight rather than by indiscriminate killing—an implicit reminder that even within kṣatriya-dharma, force can be applied with tactical restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Citrasena strikes Nakula’s bow with a sharp bhalla arrow and cuts it at the grip, rendering Nakula’s weapon unusable at a critical moment in the fighting.