Shloka 64
अश्वांश्व चतुरः श्वेतान् निजघान शितै: शरै: । छित्त्वा ध्वजं रथं चैव शतधा पुरुषर्षभ
aśvāṃś ca caturaḥ śvetān nijaghāna śitaiḥ śaraiḥ | chittvā dhvajaṃ rathaṃ caiva śatadhā puruṣarṣabha ||
Sañjaya said: With keen arrows he struck down the four white horses; and, having cut the banner and even the chariot into a hundred pieces—O best of men—he pressed the attack with relentless precision. In the moral atmosphere of the war, the verse underscores how martial skill is turned toward disabling an opponent’s means of battle, revealing the grim ethic of Kurukṣetra where prowess and destruction move side by side.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh wartime ethic in which strategic disabling of an enemy’s mobility and symbols (horses, banner, chariot) becomes a measure of prowess; it reflects how dharma in battle is framed as disciplined effectiveness, even amid destructive outcomes.
Sañjaya reports a combat moment where a warrior shoots sharp arrows to kill four white horses and then cuts down the opponent’s banner and chariot, splintering them into many pieces, indicating a decisive tactical blow in the chariot-war setting.