Shloka 31
Somadatta–Sātyaki Engagement; Bhīma’s Interventions; Droṇa–Yudhiṣṭhira Astra Exchange
Book 7, Chapter 132
तमविध्यद् युधामन्युस्त्रिंशता कड्कपत्रिभि: | विंशत्या सारथिं चास्य चतुर्भिश्चतुरो हयान्,युधामन्युने कंकपत्रयुक्त तीस बाणोंद्वारा दुर्योधनको घायल कर दिया। फिर बीस बाणोंसे उसके सारथिको और चारसे चारों घोड़ोंको बींध डाला
tam avidhyad yudhāmanyus triṃśatā kaṅkapatribhiḥ | viṃśatyā sārathiṃ cāsya caturbhiś caturō hayān |
Yudhāmanyu menembusnya dengan tiga puluh anak panah berhiaskan bulu bangau. Dengan dua puluh lagi ia memanah sais keretanya, dan dengan empat anak panah ia merobohkan keempat kuda.
द्रोण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare targets systems, not only individuals: disabling the chariot by striking the driver and horses is strategic mastery, yet it also intensifies the moral strain of battle—skill and duty (kṣatriya-dharma) operating within a tragic escalation of violence.
Droṇa narrates that Yudhāmanyu wounds Duryodhana with thirty feathered arrows, then shoots the charioteer with twenty arrows and kills the four horses with four arrows, effectively crippling Duryodhana’s chariot in combat.