Shloka 9
ते तस्य जध्निरे वाहान् भल्लेनास्याच्छिनद् धनु: । पृष्ठरक्ष॑ं तथा सूतमविध्यन्निशितै: शरै:,उन चारों बाणोंने कृतवर्माके चारों घोड़ोंको मार डाला। सात्यकिने भलल से उसके धनुषको काट दिया। फिर पैने बाणोंद्वारा उसके पृष्ठरक्षक और सारथिको भी क्षत-विक्षत कर दिया
te tasya jadhnire vāhān bhallena asyācchinad dhanuḥ | pṛṣṭharakṣaṃ tathā sūtam avidhyan niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: They slew his horses; and with a broad-headed arrow Sātyaki cut down his bow. Then, with keen shafts, they struck and mangled both his rear-guard protector and his charioteer—showing how, in the fury of battle, the contest turns not only on valor but on disabling an opponent’s means of fighting, even at the cost of grievous harm to those who serve him.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a grim aspect of kṣatriya warfare: victory often comes through tactical disabling—killing horses, cutting the bow, and striking attendants—raising ethical tension between battlefield necessity and the suffering inflicted on those who serve.
In the midst of the Drona Parva battle, Sātyaki (and his side) neutralizes an opponent’s chariot by killing the horses, severing the bow with a bhalla arrow, and then wounding the rear-guard protector and the charioteer with sharp arrows.