Shloka 44
आजपघानोरसि क्रुद्धो नवभिर्निशितै: शरै: । महाराज! उस समय शिखण्डीने कुपित होकर भरतवंशियोंके पितामह भीष्मजीकी छातीमें नौ पैने बाण मारे || ४३ ह ।। स तेनाभिहत: संख्ये भीष्म: कुरुपितामह:
ājapaghānorasi kruddho navabhir niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ | mahārāja! tadā śikhaṇḍī kupitaḥ bharatavaṁśināṁ pitāmahaṁ bhīṣmaṁ urasi nava tīkṣṇaśarān avādayat || sa tenābhihataḥ saṅkhye bhīṣmaḥ kurupitāmahaḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—महाराज! तदा शिखण्डी क्रुद्धो नवभिर्निशितैः शरैर्भरतवंशपितामहं भीष्मं वक्षसि समाहनत्। तेनाभिहते संख्ये भीष्मः कुरुपितामहः स्थिरः समतिष्ठत।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension of dharma in war: reverence for elders and ideals of honorable combat are strained by strategic necessity and prior vows. Even a revered figure like Bhīṣma becomes vulnerable when the battlefield logic of duty, destiny, and tactical advantage takes over.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Śikhaṇḍī, enraged, shoots nine sharp arrows into Bhīṣma’s chest during the battle. Bhīṣma, the Kuru patriarch, is thus wounded amid the fighting, marking the intensification of the effort to bring him down.