Mahabharata 7.116.65 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 116, Shloka 65

Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)

Devanagari script

पुनर्विव्याध विंशत्या सायकानां हसन्निव | विराट

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | punar vivyādha viṃśatyā sāyakānāṃ hasann iva | kṛtavarmā tato rājan sarvatas tān mahārathān | pratyekaṃ pañcabhir bāṇair vivyādha bhīmasenaṃ ca saptabhiḥ | tataḥ kṣaṇād eva teṣāṃ dhanūṃṣi dhvajāṃś ca ciccheda rathāc ca pātayām āsa pṛthivītale |

Translation

Disse Sañjaya: Então, como se estivesse a rir, ele voltou a trespassar o adversário com vinte flechas. Ó rei, depois disso Kṛtavarmā, disparando dardos em todas as direções, atingiu cada um daqueles grandes guerreiros de carro com cinco flechas e feriu Bhīmasena com sete. Imediatamente cortou seus arcos e estandartes e os fez cair de seus carros à terra—um episódio que revela a eficiência implacável da perícia no campo de batalha, quando a destreza é usada não só para ferir, mas para desarmar e humilhar, intensificando a pressão moral sobre todos os combatentes.

Word by Word

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• विव्याध: pierced
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यध्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3, singular, Parasmaipada

• विंशत्या: with twenty
• विंशत्या: Karana
• Type: Noun (numeral)
• Root: विंशति
• Form: feminine, instrumental, singular

• सायकानाम्: of arrows
• Type: Noun
• Root: सायक
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• हसन्: laughing
• हसन्: Karta
• Type: Verb (participle)
• Root: हस्
• Form: present active, masculine, nominative, singular

• इव: as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Kṛtavarmā
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• mahārathas (great chariot-warriors)
• arrows (sāyaka/bāṇa)
• bow (dhanus)
• banner/standard (dhvaja)
• chariot (ratha)
• earth/ground (pṛthivī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights how, in war, power often expresses itself through disarming and public defeat, not only through killing. It implicitly raises the ethical tension of kṣatriya-dharma: skill and courage are praised, yet the spectacle of contempt ("as if laughing") and the drive to humiliate show how easily righteous duty can slide into cruelty and pride.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Kṛtavarmā showers arrows in all directions, striking each opposing great warrior with five arrows and Bhīma with seven. He then swiftly cuts their bows and chariot-banners and makes them fall from their chariots to the ground, marking a decisive moment of tactical dominance.