Shloka 9
Saubhadra under Concentrated Assault; Pārṣata’s Intervention and Escalation
आददे च शरं घोरें पार्षतान्तचिकीर्षया । शक्राशनिसमस्पर्श कालदण्डमिवापरम्,तत्पश्चात् धृष्टद्युम्मका अन्त कर डालनेकी इच्छासे द्वितीय कालदण्डके समान एक भयंकर बाण हाथमें लिया, जिसका स्पर्श इन्द्रके वज़्के समान कठोर था
ādade ca śaraṁ ghoraṁ pārṣatāntacikīrṣayā | śakrāśanisamasparśaṁ kāladaṇḍam ivāparam ||
Sanjaya disse: Então ele tomou uma flecha terrível, decidido a levar o filho de Pārṣata (Dhṛṣṭadyumna) ao fim—uma flecha cujo toque era duro como o vajra de Indra, como se fosse um segundo bastão da própria Morte.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying momentum of war: intent (cikīrṣā) and wrath can make a warrior’s action feel like an instrument of Kāla (Death). It invites reflection on how duty-bound violence, even when socially sanctioned in battle, carries an ethical gravity and a sense of fatal inevitability.
Sanjaya describes a combatant taking up a fearsome arrow specifically to kill Dhṛṣṭadyumna (called Pārṣata). The arrow is compared to Indra’s thunderbolt in hardness and to a second staff of Death in its lethal power.