Shloka 42

भीष्मस्य जलप्रार्थना — अर्जुनस्य पर्जन्यास्त्रप्रयोगः — दुर्योधनं प्रति सन्ध्युपदेशः

Bhīṣma’s request for water; Arjuna’s Parjanya-astra; counsel to Duryodhana on reconciliation

Devanagari script

स बिभेद शतघ्नीं च नवभि: कड्कपत्रिभि: | मद्रराजप्रयुक्तं च शरं छित्त्वा महारथ:

Transliteration

sa bibheda śataghnīṃ ca navabhiḥ kaṅkapatribhiḥ | madrarāja-prayuktaṃ ca śaraṃ chittvā mahārathaḥ ||

Translation

సంజయుడు పలికెను—ఆ మహారథుడు కంకపక్షాలతో కూడిన తొమ్మిది బాణాలతో శతఘ్నీని కూడా ఛేదించి విరిచెను; మద్రరాజుడు ప్రయోగించిన బాణాన్ని కోసివేసి యుద్ధంలో నిలకడగా నిలిచెను॥

Word by Word

सःhe

बिभेदsplit/broke

शतघ्नीम्a śataghnī (spiked club/weapon)

चand

नवभिःwith nine

कङ्कपत्रिभिःwith arrows having heron-feathers

मद्रराजप्रयुक्तम्shot/impelled by the king of Madra

चand

शरम्arrow

छित्त्वाhaving cut (having severed)

महारथःthe great chariot-warrior

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

mahāratha (great chariot-warrior)

Madrarāja (king of Madra)

śataghnī (war-engine/projectile weapon)

śara (arrow)

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?

Within the battlefield frame, the verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma as disciplined responsiveness: even amid lethal conflict, the warrior’s duty is expressed through alertness, precision, and controlled counteraction rather than reckless aggression.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that an elite warrior destroys a formidable śataghnī with nine specially fletched arrows and then intercepts—by cutting down—the arrow shot by the king of Madra, showing superiority in the ongoing duel.