Shloka 4
अभिमन्यु–अलम्बुसयुद्धम् / The Duel of Abhimanyu and Alambusa
with Arjuna’s approach to Bhīṣma
तदन्तरं च सम्प्रेक्ष्य त्वरमाणो महारथ: । प्रसंदधे शितं बाणं गिरीणामपि दारणम्,फिर उसीको उपयुक्त अवसर समझकर महारथी दुर्योधनने बड़ी उतावलीके साथ एक तीखे बाणका संधान किया, जो पर्वतोंको भी विदीर्ण करनेवाला था
tadantaraṃ ca samprekṣya tvaramāṇo mahārathaḥ | prasaṃdadhe śitaṃ bāṇaṃ girīṇām api dāraṇam ||
ആ ഇടവേള കണ്ട മഹാരഥൻ ദുര്യോധനൻ അതിവേഗം ഒരു മൂർച്ചയുള്ള അമ്പ് ചേർത്തു; അത് പർവ്വതങ്ങളെയും പിളർക്കുമെന്നു പറയപ്പെടുന്നതായിരുന്നു.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the heat of battle, a warrior’s attention fixes on timing—spotting a brief opening (antara) and responding instantly with maximum force. Ethically, it reflects the tension between strategic necessity in war and the peril of letting haste and destructive intent dominate one’s judgment.
Sañjaya describes a great warrior noticing a momentary gap and quickly readying a very sharp arrow, poetically described as powerful enough to split even mountains—signaling an imminent, forceful attack.