Shloka 48
आरुरोह ततो यान भ्रातुरेव यशस्विन: । आर्य! तब महारथी शल्यने समरभूमिमें हँस्कर एक बाणसे नकुलके ध्वजको और दूसरेसे उनके धनुषको भी काट दिया। भारत! धनुष कट जानेपर उन्हें बाणोंसे आच्छादित- से करते हुए युद्धस्थलमें उनके सारथिको भी मार गिराया। राजन! फिर उन्होंने उस युद्धमें चार उत्तम सायकोंद्वारा नकुलके चारों घोड़ोंको यमराजके घर भेज दिया। घोड़ोंके मारे जानेपर महारथी नकुल उस रथसे तुरंत ही कूदकर अपने यशस्वी भाई सहदेवके ही रथपर जा बैठे ।। एकस्थोौ तु रणे शूरौ दृढे विक्षिप्य कार्मुकौ
āruroha tato yānaṁ bhrātur eva yaśasvinaḥ | ārya! tataḥ mahārathī śalyena samarabhūmau haṁs-kṛtvā eka-bāṇena nakulasya dhvajaṁ dvitīyena ca tasya dhanuḥ api ciccheda | bhārata! dhanuṣi chinne bāṇaiḥ ācchādayann iva yuddhasthale tasya sārathiṁ api nipātayām āsa | rājan! tataḥ sa tasmin yuddhe catubhiḥ uttamaiḥ sāyakaiḥ nakulasya catvāraḥ aśvān yamasya gṛhaṁ preṣayām āsa | aśveṣu hateṣu mahārathī nakulaḥ tasmāt rathāt sahasā avatīrya yaśasvinaḥ bhrātuḥ sahadevasya eva rathaṁ samāruroha || ekastho tu raṇe śūrau dṛḍhe vikṣipya kārmukau
Sañjaya said: Then Nakula mounted the chariot of his illustrious brother. On the battlefield, the great car-warrior Shalya, smiling in confidence, with a single arrow cut down Nakula’s banner, and with another severed his bow as well. When the bow was broken, Shalya showered him with arrows as though covering him, and even struck down Nakula’s charioteer in the midst of the fight. Then, O King, with four excellent shafts he dispatched Nakula’s four horses to the abode of Yama. When the horses were slain, the mighty Nakula leapt down at once from that chariot and took his seat upon the chariot of his renowned brother Sahadeva.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights kṣatriya-dharma in its battlefield form: composure under sudden loss (banner, bow, charioteer, horses), and the practical ethic of continuing one’s duty without despair. The image of sending horses to Yama’s abode underscores the inevitability of death in war and the need for steadiness and resolve.
Shalya decisively disables Nakula’s chariot-fighting capacity by cutting his standard and bow, killing his charioteer, and then killing all four horses with four arrows. With his chariot rendered unusable, Nakula immediately dismounts and boards Sahadeva’s chariot to continue the battle.