Shloka 12

Devanagari script

शिखण्डी तु महाबाणान्‌ यान्‌ मुमोच महारथ:,अताडयन्‌ रणे भीष्मं सहिता: सर्वसृञज्जया: । समस्त सूंजय वीर एक साथ संगठित हो भयंकर शतघ्नी, परिघ, फरसे, मुद्गर, मुसल, प्रास, गोफन, स्वर्णमय पंखवाले बाण, शक्ति, तोमर, कम्पन, नाराच, वत्सदन्‍्त और भुशुण्डी आदि अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंद्वारा रणभूमिमें भीष्मको सब ओरसे पीड़ा देने लगे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | śikhaṇḍī tu mahābāṇān yān mumoca mahārathaḥ, atāḍayan raṇe bhīṣmaṃ sahitāḥ sarvasṛñjayāḥ |

Translation

सञ्जय उवाच—शिखण्डी तु महारथो महाबाणान् व्यसर्जयत् । सर्वैः सृञ्जयवीरैश्च सहिता रणे भीष्ममाताडयन् ॥ सर्वतोऽभ्यपतन् भीष्मं यत्नवन्तो महाबलाः । ज्ञातदोषं समाश्रित्य पितामहमपीडयन् ॥

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'śikhaṇḍī': 'Śikhaṇḍī (Pāṇḍava-aligned warrior

• key to Bhīṣma’s fall)', 'tu': 'then

• indeed', 'mahābāṇān': 'great/mighty arrows', 'yān': 'which', 'mumoca': 'released

• shot forth', 'mahārathaḥ': 'a great chariot-warrior', 'atāḍayan': 'they struck

• smote', 'raṇe': 'in battle', 'bhīṣmam': 'Bhīṣma', 'sahitāḥ': 'together

• united', 'sarva-sṛñjayāḥ': 'all the Sṛñjayas (Pāṇḍava confederates)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Śikhaṇḍī
• Bhīṣma
• Sṛñjayas
• mahābāṇa (mighty arrows)
• raṇa (battlefield)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the mightiest warrior can be brought down when opponents act in disciplined unity and exploit a moral or situational constraint. The verse invites reflection on the ethics of victory: success in war often depends not only on strength but on strategy that targets an adversary’s known limitation—raising questions about dharma in combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Śikhaṇḍī releases powerful arrows and, along with all the Sṛñjaya warriors, attacks Bhīṣma from all sides on the battlefield, intensifying the assault that leads toward Bhīṣma’s eventual incapacitation.