Shloka 18

Devanagari script

तस्य द्रोणो&वधीदश्वान्‌ शरै: संनतपर्वभि: । अष्टाभिर्भरतश्रेष्ठ सूतमेकेन पत्रिणा,भरतश्रेष्ठ! फिर द्रोणने झुकी हुई गाँठवाले आठ बाणोंद्वारा विराटके घोड़ोंकोी और एक बाणसे सारथिको मार डाला

Transliteration

tasya droṇo ’vadhīd aśvān śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ | aṣṭābhir bharataśreṣṭha sūtam ekena patriṇā ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：随后，德罗那以八支关节弯曲之箭射杀其马，又以一支羽箭击倒御者——噢，婆罗多族中最卓越者。此报彰显战场技艺的无情精准：即便非王族之战具——马与车夫——也会被选作目标，以断绝战士继续作战之能。

Word by Word

तस्यof him/thereupon (in that context)

द्रोणःDrona

अवधीत्killed

अश्वान्horses

शरैःwith arrows

संनतपर्वभिःhaving bent/curved joints (i.e., with downward-bent knots)

अष्टाभिःwith eight

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

सूतम्the charioteer

एकेनwith one

पत्रिणाwith a feathered (arrow)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Droṇa

horses

charioteer (sūta)

arrows (śara)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the harsh ethics of war as portrayed in the epic: victory often depends on disabling an opponent’s means of fighting (chariot, horses, driver), not only dueling the principal warrior. It reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between martial effectiveness and moral cost.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Droṇa, with expert archery, kills the horses using eight arrows and then kills the charioteer with a single feathered arrow, effectively immobilizing the chariot and neutralizing its fighter’s mobility.