Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 9

अध्याय २२ — अमर्याद-युद्धवर्णन

Unrestrained Battle Description and Śakuni’s Rear Assault

Devanagari script

युधिष्ठिरें शतेनाजौ विव्याध भरतर्षभ । भीमसेनं च सप्तत्या सहदेवं च पठचभि:

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhireṇa śatenājau vivyādha bharatarṣabha | bhīmasenaṃ ca saptatyā sahadevaṃ ca pañcabhiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya thưa: Ô bậc trượng phu kiệt xuất của dòng Bhārata, giữa trận tiền hắn đã bắn Yudhiṣṭhira một trăm mũi tên; bắn Bhīmasena bảy mươi; và bắn Sahadeva năm mũi.

Word by Word

• युधिष्ठिरम्: Yudhiṣṭhira (as object)
• युधिष्ठिरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• शतेन: with a hundred (arrows)
• शतेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• अजौ: in battle
• अजौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अज
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• विव्याध: pierced, struck
• विव्याध: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यध्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• भरतर्षभ: O bull among the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरत-ऋषभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• भीमसेनम्: Bhīmasena (as object)
• भीमसेनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीमसेन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• सप्तत्या: with seventy (arrows)
• सप्तत्या: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सप्तति
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• सहदेवम्: Sahadeva (as object)
• सहदेवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहदेव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• पञ्चभिः: with five (arrows)
• पञ्चभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्च
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• Sahadeva
• Bharatas (Kuru lineage)
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by the vocative bharatarṣabha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the disciplined, quantified nature of kṣatriya warfare—skill expressed through precise strikes—while the broader epic context reminds the listener that such prowess operates within the heavy moral burden of fratricidal conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior in the battle (the subject implied from surrounding verses) wounds the Pāṇḍava leaders: Yudhiṣṭhira with 100 arrows, Bhīma with 70, and Sahadeva with 5.