Shloka 13
सारथिं च शतेनैव भारद्वाजस्य पश्यत: । लाघवं युयुधानस्य दृष्टवा द्रोणो महारथ:,तत्पश्चात् द्रोणके देखते-देखते सात्यकिने सौ बाणोंसे उनके सारथिको भी घायल कर दिया। युयुधानकी यह फुर्ती देखकर महारथी द्रोणने सत्तर बाणोंसे सात्यकिके सारथिको बींधकर तीन-तीन बाणोंसे उनके घोड़ोंको भी घायल कर दिया। फिर एक बाणसे सात्यकिके रथपर फहराते हुए ध्वजको भी काट डाला
sārathiṁ ca śatenaiva bhāradvājasya paśyataḥ | lāghavaṁ yuyudhānasya dṛṣṭvā droṇo mahārathaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Right before Bhāradvāja’s (Droṇa’s) very eyes, Yuyudhāna struck the charioteer with a full hundred arrows. Seeing Yuyudhāna’s swift skill, the great chariot-warrior Droṇa responded—piercing Sātyaki’s charioteer with seventy arrows, and then wounding his horses with three arrows each.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how battlefield excellence (lāghava—agility and speed) provokes immediate counter-skill from an equal master, and it exposes the ethical strain of war: combatants often seek advantage by crippling the opponent’s supports (charioteer, horses), not only by confronting the warrior directly—an aspect of kṣatriya-dharma that is effective yet morally fraught.
Sañjaya narrates that Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) strikes the charioteer with a hundred arrows in Droṇa’s sight; Droṇa, impressed by Sātyaki’s quickness, retaliates with a precise, overwhelming response—targeting Sātyaki’s charioteer and (as the surrounding passage indicates) the horses and standard—aiming to disable Sātyaki’s mobility and battlefield effectiveness.