Shloka 14
महारथी पौरवने युद्धमें महाधनुर्धर धृष्टकेतुको बाणोंद्वारा आच्छादित करके उन्हें बारंबार घायल किया ।।
sañjaya uvāca | tathāiva pauravaṁ yuddhe dhṛṣṭaketur mahārathaḥ | triṁśatā niśitair bāṇair vivyādha āśu mahābhujaḥ ||
तथैव पौरवं युद्धे धृष्टकेतुर्महारथः । त्रिंशता निशितैर्बाणैर्विव्याधाशु महाभुजः ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the symmetry of violence in war: injury is met with counter-injury. It implicitly frames battlefield action as driven by kṣatriya prowess and obligation, while reminding the listener that such exchanges accumulate suffering within a broader conflict that tests dharma.
Sanjaya reports that Dhṛṣṭaketu, an elite warrior, quickly strikes a Paurava opponent with thirty sharp arrows, wounding him—an immediate retaliation within an ongoing duel-like exchange amid the larger Kurukṣetra battle.