Shloka 553

Devanagari script

धनुश्चिच्छेद भल्‍लेन सौबलस्य हसन्निव । राजन! उस बाणके धराशायी हो जानेपर भीमसेनने क्रोधपूर्वक हँसते हुए-से एक भल्ल मारकर शकुनिके धनुषको काट दिया

Transliteration

dhanuś ciccheda bhalleṇa saubalasya hasann iva | rājan, tasmin bāṇe dharāśāyī bhūte bhīmasenaḥ krodhapūrvakaṃ hasann ivaikaṃ bhallaṃ prahṛtya śakuneḥ dhanuś ciccheda ||

Translation

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்—ஓ அரசே! அந்த அம்பு வீணாக விழுந்தபோதும், பீமசேனன் கோபத்துடன் இகழ்ச்சியாகச் சிரிப்பதுபோல் ஒரு கூர்மையான பரந்தமுனை அம்பை எய்து சௌபலன் (சகுனி) வில்லைக் கிழித்தான்.

Word by Word

धनुःbow

चिच्छेदcut, severed

भल्लेनwith a barbed arrow

सौबलस्यof Saubala (Shakuni)

हसन्laughing

इवas if, like

राजन्O king

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Bhīmasena (Bhīma)

Śakuni (Saubala)

bow (dhanuḥ)

bhalla (broad-headed arrow)

arrow (bāṇa)

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 how anger can drive relentless action in war: Bhīma, still inflamed with wrath, presses his advantage by disabling the enemy’s weapon. It implicitly contrasts strategic decisiveness with the moral danger of krodha (rage), a force that can eclipse restraint even when victory is already within reach.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīma, seemingly laughing in contempt, strikes with a bhalla and cuts Śakuni’s bow. Even after an arrow has brought Śakuni down, Bhīma continues in anger and again severs Śakuni’s bow, leaving him disarmed in the midst of battle.