Shloka 176
गौरुडव्यूह-रचना तथा अर्धचन्द्र-प्रत्यव्यूह
Garuḍa Array and the Ardhacandra Counter-Formation
हतसारथिरप्युच्चै: पपात काष्ठवद् रथ: । कितने ही वीर दूसरोंके बाणोंसे मारे जाकर रथसे गिर पड़ते थे। कहीं सारथिके मारे जानेपर रथ साधारण काष्ठकी भाँति ऊँचेसे नीचे गिर पड़ता था
hata-sārathir apy uccaiḥ papāta kāṣṭhavad rathaḥ |
三阇耶说道：在战阵的混乱中，许多英雄被他人的箭矢射杀，从战车上翻落。又有些地方，当御者（sārathi）被杀之后，那战车虽仍在，却从高处坠下，宛如一段木料般砸落。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how swiftly power and stability vanish in war: when the guiding agent (the charioteer) is removed, the instrument of action (the chariot) collapses. Ethically, it evokes the Mahābhārata’s recurring reminder of impermanence and the dependence of success on right guidance and support, even amid kṣatriya duty.
Sañjaya describes battlefield scenes where warriors, pierced by arrows, fall from their chariots; and in some cases, once the charioteer is killed, the chariot itself plunges down like a log, emphasizing the chaos and carnage of the Kurukṣetra war.