Shloka 243
Book 9 (Śalya-parva), Adhyāya 13 — Arjuna’s Arrow-storm and the Drauṇi Confrontation
द्विधा चिच्छेद समरे कृतहस्त: प्रतापवान् | सिद्धहस्त एवं प्रतापी वीर शल्यने अपने भल्लोंद्वारा सात्यकिके चलाये हुए तोमरके टुकड़े-टुकड़े कर डाले और भीमसेनके छोड़े हुए सुवर्णभूषित बाणके दो खण्ड कर डाले
sañjaya uvāca |
dvidhā ciccheda samare kṛtahastaḥ pratāpavān | siddhahasta evaṁ pratāpī vīraḥ śalyaḥ svaballaiḥ sātyakicodita-tomarasyāpi khaṇḍaśaḥ cakāra, bhīmasenamuktaṁ suvarṇabhūṣitaṁ bāṇam api dvau khaṇḍau cakāra |
Sañjaya nói: Giữa trận tiền, dũng tướng Śalya, bậc hùng mạnh và thiện xạ, bàn tay chưa từng sai lạc, đã chém đôi. Bằng những mũi tên nhắm chuẩn, ông nghiền nát thành từng mảnh cây tomara (lao) do Satyaki phóng tới, và cũng bổ làm hai mũi tên trang sức vàng mà Bhimasena vừa bắn ra.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of kṣatriya martial competence—precision, steadiness, and courage—while implicitly intensifying the epic’s ethical tension: extraordinary skill in war can be admirable as duty, yet it also magnifies destruction and suffering.
Sanjaya reports that Shalya, fighting with great accuracy, breaks apart the javelin thrown by Satyaki and then splits into two the gold-decorated arrow shot by Bhimasena, demonstrating Shalya’s dominance in that exchange of missiles.