Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 273
शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host
with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter
जघान निशितैर्बाणै: सत्यसेनस्यथ वाजिन: । तब नकुलने हँसकर रणभूमिमें चार पैने बाणोंद्वारा सत्यसेनके चारों घोड़ोंको मार डाला
jaghāna niśitair bāṇaiḥ satyasenasya atha vājinaḥ | tataḥ nakulena haṃsakar raṇabhūmau caturbhiḥ paiṇaiḥ bāṇaiḥ satyasenasya catvāro 'śvāḥ hatāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: With sharp arrows he struck down Satyasena’s horses. Then Nakula, smiling with confidence amid the clash of arms, felled Satyasena’s four steeds on the battlefield with four keen shafts—disabling the foe’s mobility and chariot-power without, in that instant, striking at the warrior’s life, in keeping with the tactics and restraint of chariot-war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a tactical dimension of dharma-yuddha: disabling an enemy’s chariot by killing the horses can be a strategic choice that shifts the fight’s balance without immediately aiming at the warrior’s death, illustrating how battlefield ethics and practical necessity intertwine in epic warfare.
Sañjaya reports that Nakula, using four sharp arrows, kills the four horses of Satyasena’s chariot on the battlefield, thereby immobilizing or weakening Satyasena’s combat position.
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