Shloka 31
Chapter 51: Saṃdhyākāla-saṃhāra
Evening Withdrawal after Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
तेषां जवेनापततां भीष्म: शान्तनवो रणे | पाज्चाल्यं त्रिभिरानर्च्छत् सात्यकिं नवभि: शरै:,शान्तनुनन्दन भीष्मने रणभूमिमें वेगपूर्वक आक्रमण करनेवाले उन दसों महारथियोंमेंसे धृष्टद्यम्मको तीन और सात्यकिको नौ बाणोंसे गहरी चोट पहुँचायी
teṣāṁ javena āpatatāṁ bhīṣmaḥ śāntanavo raṇe | pāñcālyaṁ tribhir ānarccchat sātyakiṁ navabhiḥ śaraiḥ ||
جب وہ سب مہارَتھی بڑی تیزی سے ٹوٹ پڑے تو میدانِ جنگ میں شانتنو کے پُتر بھیشم نے ان کا سامنا کیا۔ اس نے پانچال دھِرِشتدیومن کو تین تیروں سے اور ساتیکی کو نو تیروں سے زخمی کیا۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in its stark form: a commander must restrain an onrushing enemy through measured, effective force. It also implicitly underscores the ethical weight of war—skill and duty operate within a tragic field where even righteous discipline entails harm.
As a group of warriors charge forward, Bhīṣma counters their momentum. He wounds Dhṛṣṭadyumna with three arrows and Sātyaki with nine, demonstrating his battlefield superiority and his role as the Kaurava bulwark in the Kurukṣetra war.