Shloka 893

Devanagari script

क्षुरप्रेण धनुश्छित्त्वा द्रौणिं विव्याध पत्रिणा । यह देख महाबली महाबाहु भीमसेनने युद्धस्थलमें एक क्षुरप्रसे अश्वत्थामाका धनुष काटकर पंखदार बाणसे उसको भी घायल कर दिया

Transliteration

kṣurapreṇa dhanuś chittvā drauṇiṃ vivyādha patriṇā |

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಮಹಾಬಲಿಷ್ಠ ಮಹಾಬಾಹು ಭೀಮಸೇನನು ಕ್ಷುರಪ್ರ ಬಾಣದಿಂದ ಅಶ್ವತ್ಥಾಮನ ಧನುಸ್ಸನ್ನು ಕತ್ತರಿಸಿ, ನಂತರ ಪಂಖವಿರುವ ಶರದಿಂದ ಅವನನ್ನು ಮತ್ತೆ ವಿದ್ಧ ಮಾಡಿದನು।

Word by Word

क्षुरप्रेणwith a razor(-edged) arrow

धनुःbow

छित्त्वाhaving cut

द्रौणिम्Drauni (Aśvatthāman)

विव्याधpierced, wounded

पत्रिणाwith a feathered (arrow)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Aśvatthāman (Drauṇi)

Bhīmasena

bow (dhanuḥ)

razor-headed arrow (kṣurapra)

feathered arrow (patriṇa)

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 underscores the battlefield ethic of neutralizing an enemy’s capacity to fight (by cutting the bow) before delivering a decisive strike. It reflects the harsh, duty-driven reality of kṣatriya warfare, where skill and tactical disarming are central, even as the moral weight of injury and escalation remains implicit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Drona Parva fighting, Bhīmasena confronts Aśvatthāman (Drauṇi). He shoots a razor-headed arrow to cut Aśvatthāman’s bow, then follows with a feathered arrow that pierces and wounds him, as reported by Sañjaya.