Shloka 38
Adhyāya 55: Pārtha–Rādheya Saṃvāda and Tactical Exchange
Chapter 55
तस्मिन् विद्धे महेष्वासे कर्णे सर्वास्त्रकोविदे | हताश्वसूते विरथे ततोडनीकमभज्यत
tasmin viddhe maheṣvāse karṇe sarvāstrakovide | hatāśvasūte virathe tato 'nīkam abhajyata ||
সৰ্বাস্ত্ৰকোবিদ মহাধনুৰ্ধৰ কৰ্ণ বিদ্ধ হোৱাত, আৰু তেওঁৰ অশ্ব-সাৰথি নিহত হৈ তেওঁ ৰথহীন হোৱাত, তেতিয়াই সেনাব্যূহ ভাঙি পৰিল।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a practical ethical insight of warfare and governance: collective order depends heavily on key supports—leaders, logistics, and morale. When a renowned champion is disabled and his immediate supports (horses, charioteer, chariot) are destroyed, fear and confusion can spread rapidly, causing the wider force to collapse.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Karṇa, famed as a great archer and master of all weapons, is struck; his horses and charioteer are killed, leaving him without a chariot. As a result, the battle formation (anīka) breaks and the army falls into a rout.