Shloka 226
पज्चभिरन्निशितैर्भल्लैर्जत्रदेशे समाहनत् । हृदिकवंशी यादवोंके महारथी वीर कृतवर्माको सामने पाकर शिखण्डीने उसके गलेकी हँसलीपर पाँच तीखे भललोंद्वारा प्रहार किया
pañcabhir aniśitair bhallair jatradeśe samāhanat | hṛdikavaṃśī yādavānāṃ mahārathī vīraḥ kṛtavarmāṇaṃ samane prāpya śikhaṇḍī tasya galasya haṃsalīṣu pañcabhiḥ tīkṣṇair bhallaiḥ prahāram akarot ||
सञ्जय उवाच—शिखण्डी हृदिकवंश्यं यादवमहामहारथं वीरं कृतवर्माणं समासाद्य, पञ्चभिरतिनिशितैर्भल्लैर्जत्रदेशे समाहनत्।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic where a kṣatriya’s role is to act decisively in combat; moral reflection here is implicit—war compresses choices into moments of tactical necessity, revealing how duty and violence intertwine in epic warfare.
Śikhaṇḍī meets Kṛtavarmā face-to-face and wounds him by striking the collarbone/neck-joint area with five sharp bhalla arrows, as reported by Sañjaya.