Shloka 3

Devanagari script

अर्धचन्द्रं च संधाय सुतीक्षणं लोमवाहिनम्‌ । भीमसेनस्य चिच्छेद चापं क्रोधसमन्वित:,इतना ही नहीं, उसने कुपित होकर पंखयुक्त अत्यन्त तीखे अर्धचन्द्राकार बाणका प्रयोग करके भीमसेनके धनुषको काट दिया

Transliteration

ardhacandraṃ ca sandhāya sutīkṣṇaṃ lomavāhinam | bhīmasenasya ciccheda cāpaṃ krodhasamanvitaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: Rồi hắn lắp một mũi tên hình bán nguyệt, sắc như dao, có lông vũ; trong cơn giận dữ, hắn chém đứt cây cung của Bhīmasena.

Word by Word

अर्धचन्द्रम्a half-moon(-shaped arrow)

चand

संधायhaving fixed/aimed (it)

सुतीक्ष्णम्very sharp

लोमवाहिनम्feathered (lit. carrying hairs/feathers)

भीमसेनस्यof Bhimasena

चिच्छेदcut/broke

चापम्bow

क्रोधसमन्वितःfilled with anger

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīmasena (Bhīma)

cāpa (bow)

ardhacandra 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?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) can drive a warrior toward decisive, even disabling tactics—cutting the opponent’s bow rather than merely trading blows—raising an ethical tension between skillful strategy and the destabilizing force of wrath in righteous warfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of battle, an unnamed warrior (as implied by the verse context) nocks a sharp, feathered, crescent-shaped arrow and cuts through Bhīmasena’s bow, temporarily depriving Bhīma of his primary weapon.