Shloka 4
ततः: पाज्चालमुख्यस्य धृष्टद्युम्नस्य संयुगे । सारथिं चतुरश्चाश्चान् कर्णो विव्याध सायकै:,तत्पश्चात् रणभूमिमें कर्णने अपने बाणोंद्वारा पांचाल देशके प्रमुख वीर धृष्टद्युम्नके सारथि और चारों घोड़ोंको घायल कर दिया
tataḥ pāñcālamukhyasya dhṛṣṭadyumnasya saṃyuge | sārathiṃ caturaś cāśvān karṇo vivyādha sāyakaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then, in the thick of battle, Karṇa struck with his arrows the charioteer and the four horses of Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the foremost hero of the Pāñcālas—an act aimed at disabling the opponent’s mobility and command in war rather than meeting him only in direct personal combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a battlefield reality: victory often depends on disabling an enemy’s means of action (chariot, horses, driver). Ethically, it points to the tension in kṣatriya warfare between direct hero-to-hero combat and tactical measures that neutralize an opponent’s capacity to fight.
Sañjaya reports that Karṇa, during the fight, shoots arrows that wound Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s charioteer and his four horses, effectively impairing Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s chariot and mobility in the ongoing engagement.