Mahabharata 7.175.5 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 175, Shloka 5
कार्मुकप्रवरं चापि प्रचिच्छेद शितै: शरै: । सारथिं चास्य भल्लेन रथनीडादपातयत्
kārmukapravaraṃ cāpi praciccheda śitaiḥ śaraiḥ | sārathiṃ cāsya bhallena rathanīḍād apātayat ||
कार्मुकप्रवरं चापि प्रचिच्छेद शितैः शरैः । सारथिं चास्य भल्लेन रथनीडादपातयत् ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh logic of kṣatriya warfare: victory often depends on neutralizing an enemy’s capacity to fight—by cutting the bow and disabling the chariot’s control—raising ethical reflection on how duty-driven combat can demand severe, targeted actions.
In Sañjaya’s report of the battle, an unnamed warrior strikes Dhṛṣṭadyumna effectively: first severing his superior bow with sharp arrows, then knocking down his charioteer from the chariot-seat with a bhalla, thereby crippling his immediate fighting position.
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