Mahabharata 7.175.4 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 175, Shloka 4
ततः: पाज्चालमुख्यस्य धृष्टद्युम्नस्य संयुगे । सारथिं चतुरश्चाश्चान् कर्णो विव्याध सायकै:
tataḥ pāñcālamukhyasya dhṛṣṭadyumnasya saṃyuge | sārathiṃ caturaś cāśvān karṇo vivyādha sāyakaiḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: Dann, mitten im Kampf, traf Karṇa mit seinen Pfeilen den Wagenlenker und die vier Pferde Dhṛṣṭadyumnas, des vornehmsten Helden der Pāñcālas.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a battlefield reality: victory often depends on disabling an enemy’s means of action (chariot, horses, driver). Ethically, it points to the tension in kṣatriya warfare between direct hero-to-hero combat and tactical measures that neutralize an opponent’s capacity to fight.
Sañjaya reports that Karṇa, during the fight, shoots arrows that wound Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s charioteer and his four horses, effectively impairing Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s chariot and mobility in the ongoing engagement.
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