Shloka 21
दण्डधारवधः | The Slaying of Daṇḍadhāra
दूसरी ओर प्रतिविन्ध्यने पाँच बाणोंद्वारा चित्रको क्षत-विक्षत करके तीन बाणोंसे सारथिको घायल कर दिया और एक बाणसे उसके ध्वजको भी बींध डाला ।। त॑ चित्रो नवभिर्भल्लैर्बाह्वोरुरगसि चार्पयत् स्वर्णपुड्खै: प्रसन्नाग्रै: कड्कबरहिणवाजितै:,तब चित्रने कंक और मयूरकी पाँखोंसे युक्त स्वच्छ धार और सुनहरे पंखवाले नौ भल््लोंसे प्रतिविन्ध्यकी दोनों भुजाओं और छातीमें गहरी चोट पहुँचायी
tato 'nyato 'pi prativindhyo pañcabhir bāṇaiś citraṃ kṣata-vikṣataṃ kṛtvā tribhir bāṇaiḥ sārathiṃ vyathayām āsa, ekena ca tasya dhvajaṃ vivyādha. taṃ citro navabhir bhallair bāhv-or-urasi cārpayat suvarṇapuṅkhaiḥ prasannāgraiḥ kaṅkabarhiṇavājitaiḥ.
Enquanto isso, Prativindhya atingiu Chitra com cinco flechas, rasgando-o e ferindo-o; com mais três feriu o auriga de Chitra, e com uma única flecha traspassou também o estandarte. Chitra, em resposta, cravou nos dois braços e no peito de Prativindhya nove flechas bhalla—de penas douradas, pontas agudas e emplumadas com garça e pavão. A passagem realça a reciprocidade implacável da violência no campo de batalha: a perícia e a retaliação eclipsam a contenção, e até o emblema do carro se torna alvo na disputa por domínio e moral.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war tends to operate through immediate retaliation and escalation: injury invites counter-injury, and even symbols like the banner become targets. It implicitly raises ethical tension between kṣatriya valor and the destructive momentum of combat.
Prativindhya wounds Chitra with five arrows, then strikes Chitra’s charioteer with three, and pierces the chariot-banner with one. Chitra answers by shooting nine sharp, gold-fletched bhalla-arrows into Prativindhya’s arms and chest.