Shloka 5
Saubhadra under Concentrated Assault; Pārṣata’s Intervention and Escalation
द्रोणस्तु निशितैर्बाणैर्धष्टद्युम्ममविध्यत । सारथिं चास्य भल्लेन रथनीडादपातयत्,द्रोणाचार्यने अपने तीखे बाणोंसे धृष्टद्युम्मको घायल कर दिया और उनके सारथिको भल्लके द्वारा मारकर रथकी बैठकसे नीचे गिरा दिया
droṇas tu niśitair bāṇair dhṛṣṭadyumnam avidhyat | sārathiṃ cāsya bhallena rathanīḍād apātayat |
Sañjaya said: Droṇa, with his razor-sharp arrows, struck Dhṛṣṭadyumna and wounded him; and with a bhalla-arrow he slew Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s charioteer, casting him down from the chariot-seat. The scene underscores the ruthless precision of battlefield skill, where even supporting figures like the driver become decisive targets, intensifying the moral weight of war’s necessities.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grim ethical tension of war: martial excellence and tactical necessity can demand lethal actions even against non-royal combatants like charioteers, reminding readers that battlefield dharma operates within a harsh, consequential reality.
Sañjaya reports that Droṇa wounds Dhṛṣṭadyumna with sharp arrows and then kills Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s charioteer with a bhalla-arrow, knocking him from the chariot-seat, thereby weakening Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s immediate fighting capacity.