Shloka 11

Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)

Devanagari script

तत: क्षणेन क्षितिपं क्षतजप्रतिमेक्षण: । क्षयं निनीषुर्निशितैर्भीमो विव्याध पत्रिभि:,यह देख भीमसेनकी आँखें खूनके समान लाल हो गयीं। उन्होंने क्षणभरमें राजा दुर्योधनका नाश करनेकी इच्छासे पंखयुक्त पैने बाणोंद्वारा उसे बींध डाला

Transliteration

tataḥ kṣaṇena kṣitipaṁ kṣataja-pratimekṣaṇaḥ | kṣayaṁ ninīṣur niśitair bhīmo vivyādha patribhiḥ ||

Translation

ततः क्षणेन क्षितिपं क्षतजप्रतिमेक्षणः। क्षयं निनीषुर्निशितैर्भीमो विव्याध पत्रिभिः॥

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

क्षणेनin a moment

क्षितिपम्the king (lord of the earth)

क्षतज-प्रतिम-ईक्षणःwhose eyes were like blood (blood-red-eyed)

क्षयम्destruction, death

निनीषुःwishing to bring about (to cause)

निशितैःwith sharp

भीमःBhima

विव्याधpierced, struck

पत्रिभिःwith feathered arrows

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīma (Bhīmasena)

Duryodhana

feathered arrows

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical strain within dharma-yuddha: even when fighting under the banner of duty, a warrior’s mind can be seized by rage and the desire to annihilate. It invites reflection on how intention (saṅkalpa)—duty versus vengeance—colors the moral texture of action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Bhīma suddenly turning fierce—his eyes blood-red—and, intent on Duryodhana’s destruction, striking the king with sharp, feathered arrows.