Mahabharata 9.17.85 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 17, Shloka 85

Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)

Devanagari script

ततो युधिष्िरो राजा त्वरमाणो महारथ:,तब महारथी राजा युधिष्ठिरने बड़ी उतावलीके साथ चार बाण मारकर कृतवमकि चारों घोड़ोंका संहार कर डाला तथा छ: तेज धारवाले भल्लोंसे कृपाचार्यको भी घायल कर दिया

Transliteration

tato yudhiṣṭhiro rājā tvaramāṇo mahārathaḥ | tataḥ sa mahārathī rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ caturbhiḥ śaraiḥ kṛtavarmāṇaṃ caturṇāṃ aśvān saṃhṛtya ṣaḍbhiś ca tīkṣṇadhārabhir bhallaiḥ kṛpācāryam api vyathayām āsa ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。すると大車戦士たる王ユディシュティラは、急を要する決断のままに、四本の矢でクリタヴァルマンの四頭の馬を射倒した。さらに剃刀のごとく鋭いバッラ（bhalla）の矢六本で、尊き師クリパをも傷つけた。戦場の圧迫の中では、正しき王でさえ迅速で断乎たる暴力へと駆り立てられる――しかも物語は、長老や師が戦の必然によって標的となるときの道義の緊張を隠さない。

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• युधिष्ठिरः: Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजा: king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वरमाणः: hastening, in great hurry
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्वरमाण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, शतृ (present active participle)

• महारथः: great chariot-warrior
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Kṛtavarmā
• Kṛpācārya (Kṛpa)
• four horses (of Kṛtavarmā’s chariot)
• arrows (śara, bhalla)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a dharma-minded ruler may be compelled by kṣatriya-duty to act swiftly and violently in war; the episode highlights the moral strain of fighting when revered elders and teachers stand on the opposing side.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Yudhiṣṭhira, in haste, shoots four arrows to kill Kṛtavarmā’s four horses, disabling his chariot, and then strikes Kṛpācārya with six sharp bhalla arrows, wounding him in the ongoing battle.