Shloka 23
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
तन्निकृत्य शितैर्बाणिमित्रवर्माणमाक्षिपत् । वत्सदन्तेन तीक्ष्णेन सारथिं चास्य मारिष,मान्यवर! सत्यसेनको मारकर तीखे बाणोंद्वारा मित्रवर्माकों और एक पैने वत्सदन्तसे उसके सारथिको भी मार गिराया
sañjaya uvāca | tan nikṛtya śitaiḥ bāṇaiḥ mitravarmāṇam ākṣipat | vatsadantena tīkṣṇena sārathiṃ cāsya māriṣa ||
Sañjaya said: Having thus struck him down, he felled Mitravarman with sharp arrows; and with a keen, calf-tooth–shaped shaft he also brought down that warrior’s charioteer, O venerable one.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the severe, duty-driven logic of war (kṣatriya-dharma): victory often requires disabling an opponent’s capacity to fight—here, by striking both the warrior and the charioteer—showing how battlefield necessity can intensify violence and moral tension.
Sañjaya reports that a warrior (implied by the Hindi gloss as Satyasena) strikes down Mitravarman with sharp arrows and then kills Mitravarman’s charioteer using a piercing ‘vatsadanta’ arrow, thereby neutralizing the chariot in combat.