Shloka 426

भीष्मधनंजयद्वैरथम्

Bhīṣma–Dhanaṃjaya Duel and the Opening Clash

Devanagari script

तमर्जुन: प्रत्यविध्यद्‌ दशभिर्मर्म भेदिभि: । गंगानन्दन भीष्मने उस रणक्षेत्रमें नौ बाणोंसे अर्जुनको गहरी चोट पहुँचायी। तब अर्जुनने भी उन्हें दस मर्मभेदी बाणोंद्वारा बींध डाला

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | tam arjunaḥ pratyavidhyad daśabhir marma-bhedibhiḥ |

Translation

三阇耶说道：阿周那随即还击，以十箭穿刺，尽中要害。在战场上这般凶猛的对射中，恒河之子毗湿摩以九箭使阿周那深受创伤；而阿周那也以十支破“摩尔摩”（要命之处）的利箭将他贯穿。

Word by Word

• तम्: him
• तम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अर्जुनः: Arjuna
• अर्जुनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्जुन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रत्यविध्यत्: pierced, struck through
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यध्
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• दशभिः: with ten
• दशभिः: Karana
• Type: Numeral (Adjective)
• Root: दशन्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• मर्मभेदिभिः: with vital-part-piercing (arrows)
• मर्मभेदिभिः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मर्मभेदिन्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Arjuna
• Bhīṣma (implied as the one struck back; Gaṅgā-nandana in the provided Hindi gloss)
• battlefield (raṇa-kṣetra; implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even within dharma-yuddha, action has moral gravity: the verse highlights deliberate, skilled violence (targeting vital points) and thereby invites reflection on responsibility, restraint, and the heavy cost of fulfilling kṣatriya duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the ongoing duel, after being wounded, Arjuna retaliates and pierces his opponent—understood in context as Bhīṣma—with ten vital-point-piercing arrows, intensifying the battlefield exchange.