Shloka 416
विव्याध षष्ट्या सुभृशं शराणां प्रहसन्निव । ऐसा कहकर सात्यकिने हँसते हुए ही साठ बाणोंद्वारा जलसंधकी चौड़ी छातीपर गहरी चोट पहुँचायी
vivyādha ṣaṣṭyā subhṛśaṃ śarāṇāṃ prahasann iva |
Sañjaya said: Smiling, as though in derision, he struck him fiercely with sixty arrows, driving them deep—an act that intensified the ruthless momentum of the battle and displayed the warrior’s deliberate, almost taunting resolve as restraint collapsed in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the Mahābhārata’s war ethic, prowess can be coupled with psychological dominance (smiling or mockery). It implicitly warns that martial skill without inner restraint can harden into cruelty, showing how dharma in war is continually tested by anger, pride, and the urge to humiliate.
Sañjaya narrates a combat moment: a warrior pierces his opponent powerfully with sixty arrows, doing so while smiling as if mocking—signaling both physical superiority and a taunting intent that heightens the ferocity of the encounter.