Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 26
Adhyāya 55: Pārtha–Rādheya Saṃvāda and Tactical Exchange
Chapter 55
पतन्त्यरूपेषु यथा चक्षूंषि न कदाचन । नालक्ष्येषु शरा: पेतुस्तथा गाण्डीवधन्वन:
vaishampāyana uvāca | patanty arūpeṣu yathā cakṣūṃṣi na kadācana | nālakṣyeṣu śarāḥ petus tathā gāṇḍīvadhanvanaḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。形なくして見るべきものに眼が決して留まらぬように、ガーンディーヴァを執るアルジュナの矢もまた、彼が狙いと定めぬ者には落ちなかった。ここに示されるのは、無差別の暴力ではなく、意志に統べられた力という、戦場の規律ある熟達である。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
True martial excellence is restrained and intentional: even in war, force should be directed only toward the chosen objective, avoiding harm to those not meant to be struck.
The narrator describes Arjuna’s extraordinary control and accuracy: his arrows do not strike unintended persons, just as eyes do not perceive what is formless or not an object of sight.