Shloka 226
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 37: Sañjaya’s Account of Abhimanyu’s Precision Disruption of a Chariot Contingent
बाहू धनु: शिरश्नोव्या स्मयमानो5 भ्यपातयत् | तब अभिमन्युने मुसकराकर अश्मकपुत्रके घोड़ों, सारथि, ध्वज, भुजाओं, धनुष तथा मस्तकको भी दस बाणोंसे पृथ्वीपर काट गिराया
bāhū dhanuḥ śiraś caivā smayamāno 'bhyapātayat | tataḥ sa abhimanyunā musalakāreṇa aśmakaputrakasya hayān sārathiṃ dhvajaṃ bhujau dhanuḥ śiraś ca daśabhir bāṇaiḥ pṛthivyāṃ nikṛttya nipātitam ||
Sañjaya said: Smiling, he struck down the arms, the bow, and even the head. Then Abhimanyu, with swift and decisive skill, cut down the Aśmaka prince’s horses, charioteer, banner, arms, bow, and head with ten arrows, casting them to the earth.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the harsh reality of kṣatriya warfare: skill and resolve decide outcomes instantly, and symbols of power (banner, bow, chariot-team) can be dismantled in moments. It invites reflection on how martial excellence and duty operate within a tragic moral landscape where victory is inseparable from loss.
Sañjaya describes a rapid battlefield exchange culminating in Abhimanyu’s decisive strike: with ten arrows he brings down the Aśmaka prince’s horses, charioteer, banner, and then severs the warrior’s arms, bow, and head, felling them to the ground.