Shloka 41
चतुर्भिनिशितैस्ती&णै्हयान् जघ्ने शरोत्तमै: । माननीय नरेश! तब द्रोणाचार्य अत्यन्त कुपित हो उठे और उन्होंने सानपर चढ़ाकर तेज किये हुए चार तीखे एवं उत्तम बाणोंद्वारा धर्मराजके चारों घोड़ोंको मार डाला ।। ४० ई || चिच्छेदेकेन भल्लेन धनुश्रैन्द्रध्ध्जोपमम्
caturbhir niśitais tīkṣṇaiḥ śarottamaiḥ hayān jaghne | mānanīya nareśa! tad droṇācāryaḥ atyantaṃ kupito ho uṭhe aura unhoṃne sāna para caṛhākara teja kiye hue cār tīkṣṇa evaṃ uttama bāṇoṃ dvārā dharmarāja ke cāroṃ ghoṛoṃ ko mār ḍālā || cicchede ekena bhallena dhanuḥ śakra-dhvaja-upamam ||
Sañjaya said: “O venerable king, then Droṇācārya, inflamed with intense anger, struck down the four horses of Dharmarāja with four razor-sharp, excellent arrows honed to a keen edge. And with a single broad-headed arrow he severed the bow that was like Indra’s banner.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how uncontrolled anger (krodha) intensifies violence and accelerates destruction in war; even a revered teacher like Droṇa, when overtaken by rage, directs lethal skill toward disabling an opponent’s mobility and capacity to fight.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Droṇa, furious, shoots four sharpened arrows to kill the four horses of Dharmarāja’s chariot, and then with a single bhalla arrow cuts down the bow likened to Indra’s banner—tactically crippling the enemy’s chariot and weapon.