Shloka 2
स तु रुक्मरथासक्तो दुःशासनशरार्दित: । अमर्षात् तव पुत्रस्य शरैर्वाहानवाकिरत्
sa tu rukmarathāsakto duḥśāsanaśarārditaḥ | amarṣāt tava putrasya śarair vāhān avākirat |
Sañjaya said: But he, pressed hard while engaged with the warrior on the golden chariot and wounded by Duḥśāsana’s arrows, could not bear it. In anger he showered your son’s horses with a hail of shafts—an act that shifts the violence from the rival fighter to the means of mobility, revealing how wrath in battle often seeks advantage by crippling what sustains the opponent rather than meeting him directly.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger (amarṣa) in war can drive a fighter to seek advantage by disabling the opponent’s support system—here, the horses—rather than confronting the rival directly. It invites reflection on battlefield ethics: tactical success may come through such acts, yet they also show how wrath redirects violence toward vulnerable dependents (animals and equipment) and intensifies the cycle of retaliation.
Sañjaya reports that a warrior, already engaged with the fighter on a golden chariot and hurt by Duḥśāsana’s arrows, becomes enraged and responds by raining arrows upon the horses of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son (a Kaurava prince, commonly Duryodhana in such narration), aiming to immobilize the chariot and gain an upper hand.