Mahabharata 7.116.66 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 116, Shloka 66
Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)
एकैकं पज्चभिर्विद्ध्वा भीमं॑ विव्याध सप्तभि: । धनुर्ध्वजं चास्य तथा रथाद् भूमावपातयत्
sañjaya uvāca | ekaikaṃ pañcabhir viddhvā bhīmaṃ vivyādha saptabhiḥ | dhanur-dhvajaṃ cāsya tathā rathād bhūmāv apātayat rājan ||
संजय म्हणाला— कृतवर्म्याने त्या महारथींपैकी प्रत्येकास पाच-पाच बाणांनी विद्ध करून भीमसेनास सात बाणांनी घायाळ केले. मग, राजन्, त्याने तत्क्षणी भीमाचे धनुष्य व ध्वज छेदून रथावरून भूमीवर पाडले.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the dharma of war, victory often turns on disabling an opponent’s capacity to fight—here by striking Bhīma and then cutting down his bow and banner. It invites reflection on the ethical tension between martial excellence and the harsh, dehumanizing efficiency of battlefield tactics.
Sañjaya reports that Kṛtavarman showers arrows, piercing each of the opposing great warriors with five arrows and wounding Bhīma with seven. He then severs Bhīma’s bow and standard, making them fall from the chariot to the ground—an act meant to neutralize Bhīma’s fighting power and morale-symbols.
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