तांस् तु सर्वान् महेष्वासान् सर्वविद्यासु निष्ठितान् ॥
व्यष्टम्भयद् रणे बाणैः सौभद्रः परवीरहा ॥
द्रोणं पञ्चाशता विद्ध्वा विंशत्या च बृहद्बलम् ॥
अशीत्या कृतवर्माणं कृपं षष्ट्या शिलीमुखैः ॥
रुक्मपुङ्खैर् महावेगैर् आकर्णसमचोदितैः ॥
अविध्यद् दशभिर् बाणैर् अश्वत्थामानम् आर्जुनिः ॥
tāṃs tu sarvān maheṣvāsān sarvavidyāsu niṣṭhitān ||
vyaṣṭambhayad raṇe bāṇaiḥ saubhadraḥ paravīrahā ||
droṇaṃ pañcāśatā viddhvā viṃśatyā ca bṛhadbalam ||
aśītyā kṛtavarmāṇaṃ kṛpaṃ ṣaṣṭyā śilīmukhaiḥ ||
rukmapuṅkhair mahāvegair ākarṇasamacoditaiḥ ||
avidhyad daśabhir bāṇair aśvatthāmānam ārjuniḥ ||
All those great archers, accomplished in all the sciences, the son of Subhadra, slayer of enemy warriors, held back in battle with arrows: having wounded Drona with fifty, Brihadbala with twenty, Kritavarman with eighty, Kripa with sixty arrows; with gold-feathered, mighty-swift arrows drawn to the ear, the son of Arjuna wounded Ashvatthaman with ten.
08a7ac439e36 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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A single youth strikes each of the six by name, with an exact count of arrows -- a deed bordering on the miraculous: he not only holds his ground but strikes them all at once. It is significant that the tradition keeps count, as if to show the measure of the impossible accomplished by the child. The verse teaches that perfected mastery can single-handedly withstand a whole council of the foremost, striking each one; that one who has mastered the art to its limit is worth a countless multitude; and that the exact count of arrows with which the youth wounded each of the six is no dry inventory but testimony to a valor that shamed the mightiest -- for what many cannot achieve, he accomplishes alone, and every number in this count is a measure of his superiority.