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 ||
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا— تب اُس نے ایک ہی تیر سے اُس رتھ کا جُوا کاٹ دیا؛ مزید چار تیروں سے چاروں گھوڑوں کو گرا دیا؛ اور چھٹے تیر سے رتھ کے سارتھی کا سر دھڑ سے جدا کر دیا۔
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.