Mahabharata 9.14.2 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 14, Shloka 2
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
द्रौर्णि विव्याध समरे त्रिभिरेव शिलीमुखै: । तथेतरान् महेष्वासान द्वाभ्यां द्वाभ्यां धनंजय:
drauṇiṁ vivyādha samare tribhir eva śilīmukhaiḥ | tathetarān maheṣvāsān dvābhyāṁ dvābhyāṁ dhanañjayaḥ ||
సంజయుడు పలికెను—సమరంలో ధనంజయుడు (అర్జునుడు) ద్రోణపుత్రుడు అశ్వత్థాముని మూడు పదునైన బాణములతో విద్దెను. అలాగే ఇతర మహాధనుర్ధరులను కూడా రెండు రెండు బాణములతో గాయపరచెను.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined, proportionate action in a dharmic battlefield context: Arjuna’s controlled precision—assigning three arrows to a principal foe and two each to others—suggests mastery that avoids wasteful or reckless violence while fulfilling a warrior’s duty.
Sañjaya reports Arjuna’s performance in combat: he wounds Aśvatthāmā (Droṇa’s son) with three arrows and similarly strikes other prominent archers with two arrows each, emphasizing Arjuna’s dominance and tactical efficiency in the ongoing Kurukṣetra war.
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