Shloka 14
Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni
Book 11, Chapter 24
ततः पापतरं कर्म कृतवानपि सात्यकि: । यस्मात् प्रायोपविष्टस्य प्राहार्षीत् संशितात्मन:
tataḥ pāpataraṃ karma kṛtavān api sātyakiḥ | yasmāt prāyopaviṣṭasya prāhārṣīt saṃśitātmanaḥ ||
Daraufhin beging Sātyaki, obgleich er bereits einer Untat schuldig war, eine noch sündhaftere Tat: Denn er erschlug einen selbstbeherrschten Mann, der sich zum prāyopaveśa — dem Fasten bis zum Tod — niedergesetzt hatte, einer Haltung der Entsagung und nicht des Kampfes.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a grave ethical boundary: harming someone engaged in prāyopaveśa (a renunciatory, penitential fast unto death) is portrayed as a deeper sin than ordinary wartime violence. It signals how adharma intensifies when violence disregards restraint, vulnerability, and sacred vows.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Sātyaki committed an even worse deed by striking a disciplined person who had undertaken prāyopaveśa—someone no longer acting as a combatant but as a penitent. The scene belongs to the post-war moral unraveling depicted in Strī Parva.