SB 10.68.9 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

विस्फूर्ज्य रुचिरं चापं सर्वान् विव्याध सायकै: । कर्णादीन् षड्रथान् वीरस्तावद्भ‍िर्युगपत् पृथक् ॥ ९ ॥ चतुर्भिश्चतुरो वाहानेकैकेन च सारथीन् । रथिनश्च महेष्वासांस्तस्य तत्तेऽभ्यपूजयन् ॥ १० ॥

Verse text

visphūrjya ruciraṁ cāpaṁ sarvān vivyādha sāyakaiḥ karṇādīn ṣaḍ rathān vīras tāvadbhir yugapat pṛthak caturbhiś caturo vāhān ekaikena ca sārathīn rathinaś ca maheṣvāsāṁs tasya tat te ’bhyapūjayan

Synonyms

visphūrjya — twanging ; ruciram — attractive ; cāpam — his bow ; sarvān — all of them ; vivyādha — he pierced ; sāyakaiḥ — with his arrows ; karṇa — ādīn — Karṇa and the others ; ṣaṭ — six ; rathān — the chariots ; vīraḥ — the hero, Sāmba ; tāvadbhiḥ — with as many ; yugapat — simultaneously ; pṛthak — each individually ; caturbhiḥ — with four (arrows) ; caturaḥ — the four ; vāhān — horses (of each chariot) ; eka — ekena — with one each ; ca — and ; sārathīn — the chariot drivers ; rathinaḥ — the warriors commanding the chariots ; ca — and ; mahā — iṣu — āsān — great bowmen ; tasya — his ; tat — that ; te — they ; abhyapūjayan — honored .

Translation

Twanging his wonderful bow, heroic Sāmba struck with arrows the six warriors headed by Karṇa. He pierced the six chariots with as many arrows, each team of four horses with four arrows, and each chariot driver with a single arrow, and he similarly struck the great bowmen who commanded the chariots. The enemy warriors congratulated Sāmba for this display of prowess.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Twanging his wonderful bow, heroic Sāmba struck with arrows the six warriors headed by Karṇa. He pierced the six chariots with as many arrows, each team of four horses with four arrows, and each chariot driver with a single arrow, and he similarly struck the great bowmen who commanded the chariots. The enemy warriors congratulated Sāmba for this display of prowess. KB 10.68.9-10 He fought them with great talent. First of all, he struck each of the six charioteers with six separate arrows. He used another four arrows to kill the charioteers’ horses, four on each chariot. Then he used one arrow to kill the driver and one arrow for Karṇa as well as the other celebrated fighters. While Sāmba so diligently fought alone with the six great warriors, they all appreciated the boy’s inconceivable potency. Even in the midst of the fighting they admitted frankly that this boy Sāmba was wonderful.

Purport

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “While Sāmba was so diligently fighting alone with the six great warriors, they all appreciated the inconceivable potency of the boy. Even in the midst of fighting, they admitted frankly that this boy Sāmba was wonderful.”

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Successively he shot four arrows at each of the four horses of each chariot. They praised him for this act.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

He drew his bow fully in a splendid manner (ruciram). He pierced the six chariots with six arrows. They all praised him simultaneously (abhi—apūjayan).

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

He drew his attractive (ruciram) bow fully. This is mentioned twice to indicate its beauty. Or he drew the bow attractively. He pierced the six chariots with six arrows, because he was capable of fighting (vīraḥ). The bowmen were very courageous (maheṣvāsān). They all praised him simultaneously (abhi—apūjayan), saying “Very good!” since warriors become joyful on seeing the great bravery of another warrior. Another version has mahesvāsāḥ: even the archers praised him because they could not do as he did, even though they had huge chariots.