Shloka 90

Devanagari script

तान्‌ पञ्च भल्लैर्दशभि: सुमुक्ति- स्त्रिधा त्रिधैकेकमथोच्चकर्त । धनंजयास्त्रैन्यपतन्‌ पृथिव्यां महाहयस्तक्षकपुत्रपक्षा:

Transliteration

tān pañca bhallair daśabhiḥ sumuktis tridha tridhā ekam athoccakarta | dhanañjayāstrāi nyapatan pṛthivyāṃ mahāhayas takṣakaputrapakṣāḥ ||

Translation

तान् पञ्च भल्लैर्दशभिः सुमुक्तैः स त्रिधा त्रिधैकेकमथोच्चकर्त। धनञ्जयास्त्रैर्न्यपतन् पृथिव्यां महाहयास्तक्षकपुत्रपक्षाः॥

Word by Word

तान्them

पञ्चfive

भल्लैःwith arrows (bhallas)

दशभिःwith ten

सुमुक्तिःa well-released (shot)

त्रिधाin three ways / into three parts

त्रिधाthrice / into three

एकम्one (each)

अथthen

उच्चकर्तcut up / cut asunder

धनंजयDhanañjaya (Arjuna)

अस्त्रैःwith weapons/missiles

न्यपतन्fell down

पृथिव्याम्on the earth

महाहयाःgreat horses

तक्षकपुत्रपक्षाःhaving wings like the sons of Takṣaka / Takṣaka’s sons’ wings (i.e., swift as serpent-birds)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)

Takṣaka

bhalla (arrow)

astra (missile/weapon)

mahāhaya (great horses)

pṛthivī (earth)

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 decisive power of disciplined skill (śastra-kauśala) in kṣatriya warfare, while implicitly reminding the listener that such prowess manifests as real, immediate harm—living beings (the horses) fall, and victory is purchased through suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where expertly released arrows sever their targets repeatedly; then Arjuna (Dhanañjaya), using his astras, strikes down the great, swift horses—likened to the offspring of the nāga Takṣaka—so that they collapse onto the ground.