Shloka 36
Arjuna’s Concentrated Archery and the Rout of the Kaurava Mahārathas
Gāṇḍīva-Nirghoṣa Episode
अथास्य युगमेकेन चतुर्भिश्चतुरों हयान् । षष्ठेन च शिर: कायाच्छरेण रथसारथे:,एक बाणसे उनके रथका जूआ काटकर चार बाणोंसे चारों घोड़े मार डाले और छठे बाणसे रथके सारथिका सिर धड़से अलग कर दिया
athāsya yugam ekena caturbhiś caturaḥ hayān | ṣaṣṭhena ca śiraḥ kāyāc chareṇa rathasāratheḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana disse: Então, com uma única flecha, ele decepou o jugo daquele carro; com outras quatro, abateu os quatro cavalos; e, com a sexta, separou a cabeça do cocheiro do corpo.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, strategic disabling of an enemy’s mobility and command (yoke, horses, charioteer) can decide the encounter. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: martial duty and skill are praised, yet the grim cost of violence is made explicit.
A warrior (implied by context) rapidly neutralizes an opponent’s chariot: first cutting the yoke with one arrow, then killing the four horses with four arrows, and finally severing the charioteer’s head with a sixth arrow—rendering the chariot helpless.