Shloka 7
Kṛtavarmā–Sātyaki Chariot Duel and Kaurava Morale Shock (कृतवर्म-सात्यकि-द्वैरथम्)
राजन! जैसे पूर्वकालमें ऐरावतपर बैठकर शत्रु-सेनाका संहार करते हुए वज्रधारी इन्द्रके बाण छोड़ने और विपक्षीको मार गिरानेके अन्तरको दैत्य और देवता नहीं देख पाते थे, उसी प्रकार उस महासमरमें शाल्वके बाण छोड़ने तथा सैनिकोंको यमलोक पहुँचानेमें कितनी देर लगती है, इसे अपने या शत्रुपक्षके योद्धा नहीं देख सके ।।
sañjaya uvāca | rājan! yathā pūrvakāle airāvatopaviṣṭaḥ śatrusenāsaṃhāraṃ kurvan vajradhara indro bāṇān muñcan vipakṣaṃ nipātayan ca yāvat, tatra daityā devāś ca bāṇamokṣa-nipātayor antaraṃ na paśyanti sma; tathā tasmin mahāsamare śālvasya bāṇamokṣaḥ sainikānāṃ ca yamalokaprāpaṇaṃ kati ciram iti svapakṣaparapakṣayodhā na dadṛśuḥ || te pāṇḍavāḥ somakāḥ sṛñjayāś ca taṃ gajarājaṃ samantāt dṛṣṭavantaḥ | sahasraśo vai vicarantam ekaṃ yathā mahendrasya gajaṃ samīpe ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O König, wie einst—als Indra, der den Vajra trägt, auf Airāvata sitzend das feindliche Heer vernichtete—weder Dämonen noch Götter den Zwischenraum zwischen dem Abschuss des Pfeils und dem Sturz des Gegners wahrnehmen konnten, so vermochte in jener großen Schlacht kein Krieger, weder von unserer Seite noch vom Feind, zu erkennen, wie kurz die Zeit war, die Śālva brauchte, um seine Geschosse zu lösen und Soldaten in Yamas Reich zu senden. Die Pāṇḍavas, die Somakas und die Sṛñjayas sahen jenen Elefantenkönig ringsum; obgleich er allein über das Schlachtfeld streifte, erschien er ihnen zu Tausenden—wie Mahendras Elefant, aus nächster Nähe erblickt.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how overwhelming martial force can collapse the perceived gap between action and consequence: when skill and momentum peak, observers cannot even register the ‘interval’ between a deed and its result. Ethically, it underscores the terrifying immediacy of violence in war—death becomes instantaneous and impersonal, ‘sending to Yama’s realm’ as a stock epic expression.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Śālva’s archery in the great battle was so rapid that neither side could perceive the time between his shooting and the soldiers’ falling. He then describes a battlefield spectacle: an elephant-king moving alone yet appearing as if multiplied into thousands to the Pāṇḍavas and their allies, likened to Indra’s Airāvata.