Shloka 273
ध्वजमेकेन बाणेन विव्याध युधि मारिष । माननीय नरेश! तदनन्तर युयुधानने पुनः दस बाण मारकर द्रोणाचार्यको घायल कर दिया। फिर एक बाणसे उनके सारथिको, चारसे चारों घोड़ोंको और एक बाणसे उनकी ध्वजाको युद्धस्थलमें बींध डाला
dhvajam ekena bāṇena vivyādha yudhi māriṣa | mānanīya nareśa! tadanantaraṁ yuyudhānena punaḥ daśa bāṇān mārayan droṇācāryaṁ ghālayām āsa | tataḥ ekena bāṇena tasya sārathiṁ, caturbhiḥ caturaḥ aśvān, ekena ca bāṇena tasya dhvajāṁ yuddhasthale viddhvā pātayām āsa |
Sanjaya said: O revered king, in the thick of battle he pierced the banner with a single arrow. Then Yuyudhāna again loosed ten arrows and wounded Droṇācārya. Next, with one arrow he struck down Droṇa’s charioteer, with four he felled the four horses, and with one more he pierced the banner on the battlefield. The episode underscores how martial skill, when driven by fierce resolve, can dismantle an opponent’s very means of fighting—yet it also raises the ethical tension of war, where victory is pursued through the systematic disabling of men and mounts alike.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the moral strain inherent in righteous warfare: even when fighting under kṣatriya-duty, victory is achieved by disabling the enemy’s capacity to fight—striking banner, charioteer, and horses—actions that are tactically effective yet ethically weighty.
Sanjaya reports that Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) pierces the enemy banner with one arrow, then shoots ten arrows to wound Droṇa, and subsequently brings down Droṇa’s charioteer, the four horses, and the banner—systematically crippling Droṇa’s chariot-force in battle.