तयोर् आसीन् महाराज शस्त्रवृष्टिः सुदारुणा ॥
क्रुद्धयोः सायकमुचोर् यमान्तकनिकाशयोः ॥
ताव् अन्योन्यं शरै राजन् प्रच्छाद्य समरे स्थितौ ॥
मुहूर्तं चैव तद् युद्धं समरूपम् इवाभवत् ॥
ततः क्रुद्धो महाराज शैनेयः प्रहसन्न् इव ॥
धनुश् चिच्छेद समरे कौरव्यस्य महात्मनः ॥
अथैनं छिन्नधन्वानं नवभिर् निशितैः शरैः ॥
विव्याध हृदये तूर्णं तिष्ठ तिष्ठेति चाब्रवीत् ॥
tayor āsīn mahārāja śastravṛṣṭiḥ sudāruṇā ||
kruddhayoḥ sāyakamucor yamāntakanikāśayoḥ ||
tāv anyonyaṃ śarai rājan pracchādya samare sthitau ||
muhūrtaṃ caiva tad yuddhaṃ samarūpam ivābhavat ||
tataḥ kruddho mahārāja śaineyaḥ prahasann iva ||
dhanuś ciccheda samare kauravyasya mahātmanaḥ ||
athainaṃ chinnadhanvānaṃ navabhir niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
vivyādha hṛdaye tūrṇaṃ tiṣṭha tiṣṭheti cābravīt ||
Those two, O great king, unleashed upon each other a most terrible rain of weapons — enraged arrow-throwers, resembling Yama and Antaka. Those two, showering each other with arrows, O king, stood in battle, and for a moment that battle seemed as though equal. Then Śaineya, enraged, O great king, as though laughing, severed in battle the bow of the great-souled Kauravya. Then, with his bow cut, he pierced him in the heart instantly with nine sharp arrows and cried: "Stay, stay!"
e5c5169504d0 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
For a moment the fight seems equal — but balance in combat is short-lived; the scales tip slightly, and it collapses. It is telling that Sātyaki cuts down his enemy's bow "as though laughing": beneath the apparent poise of forces, the outcome was already ripening. The verse teaches that the seeming equality of combatants is deceptive and fleeting; in every struggle a moment comes when one side outweighs the other, and whoever perceives that moment and masters himself turns a precarious balance into victory.