Shloka 496
Sātyaki-praveśaḥ and Duryodhana-saṃnipātaḥ
Sātyaki’s passage and Duryodhana’s mass engagement
वधाय युयुधानस्य दिव्यमस्त्रमुदैरयत् । महाराज! तदनन्तर धरनुर्वेदके पारंगत विद्वान् द्रोणाचार्यने कुपित हो सात्यकिके वधके लिये एक दिव्यास्त्र प्रकट किया
vadhāya yuyudhānasya divyam astram udairayat | mahārāja! tadanantaraṃ dhanuḥvedake pāraṃgataḥ vidvān droṇācāryaḥ kupito ho sātyakivadhāya ekaṃ divyāstram prakaṭaṃ cakāra |
Sañjaya said: “O King, intent on the death of Yuyudhāna, he unleashed a celestial weapon. Thereafter, the learned Droṇācārya—fully accomplished in the science of archery—angered, manifested a divine missile to slay Sātyaki.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral tension central to the Mahābhārata: extraordinary knowledge and power (divyāstra, dhanurveda) are ethically ambivalent. When governed by anger (krodha), even legitimate martial skill becomes a force that accelerates adharma-like outcomes—loss of restraint, disproportionate violence, and deepening enmity.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Droṇa, enraged, releases/manifests a divine weapon with the intent to kill Yuyudhāna—also known as Sātyaki—signaling a dangerous escalation in the battle where celestial missiles are deployed against key warriors.