Shloka 52
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Sañjaya-saṃvādaḥ; madhyāhna-saṅgrāma-pravṛttiḥ
Dhritarashtra–Sanjaya dialogue and the midday battle escalation
हयांश्व चतुर: शीघ्रं निजघान महाबल: । शरैश्वैनं सुनिशितै: क्षिप्रं विव्याध सप्तभि:
hayāṁś caturaḥ śīghraṁ nijaghāna mahābalaḥ | śaraiś cainaṁ suniśitaiḥ kṣipraṁ vivyādha saptabhiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The mighty warrior swiftly struck down the four horses; then, with seven razor-sharp arrows, he quickly pierced him as well. The verse underscores the ruthless efficiency of battlefield skill—where disabling an opponent’s mobility (the horses) becomes a decisive tactic, even as the moral weight of violence remains implicit in the war’s grim necessity.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, strategic action often targets an opponent’s means of movement and defense first; it implicitly reflects the harsh logic of kṣatriya warfare, where effectiveness and speed can decide life and death, even as the ethical burden of such acts is carried within the larger dharmic conflict.
Sañjaya describes a powerful fighter rapidly killing the four horses of an enemy’s chariot and then immediately wounding the enemy himself with seven extremely sharp arrows.