Shloka 38
अर्जुनस्य गुरुधर्मविलापः तथा शैनेयकर्णयोर्युद्धारम्भः | Arjuna’s Lament on Guru-Dharma and the Opening of the Sātyaki–Karṇa Duel
अथान्यद् धनुरादाय श्यालस्तव विशाम्पते,प्रजानाथ! तत्पश्चात् आपके सालेने दूसरा धनुष लेकर सात्यकिको पहले आठ बाण मारे। फिर पाँच बाणोंसे उन्हें घायल कर दिया। दुःशासनने दस और दुःसहने भी तीन बाण मारे
atha anyad dhanur ādāya śyālas tava viśāmpate prajānātha | tatpaścāt śyālena dvitīyaṃ dhanur gṛhītvā sātyakiṃ pūrvam aṣṭabhir bāṇaiḥ tāḍitaḥ | tataḥ pañcabhir bāṇaiḥ sa viddhaḥ | duḥśāsanena daśa bāṇāḥ, duḥsahena ca trayo bāṇāḥ prahṛtāḥ |
Sañjaya said: Then, O lord of the people, O ruler of men, your brother-in-law took up another bow. With it he first struck Sātyaki with eight arrows, and thereafter wounded him with five more. Duhśāsana shot ten arrows, and Duhsaha too discharged three. Thus, in the press of battle, the Kaurava warriors sought to overwhelm Sātyaki by coordinated volleys—an image of war’s harsh logic, where prowess is tested amid relentless, collective assault.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield reality that individual valor is often met by collective force; it implicitly frames war as a domain where kṣatriya-duty is enacted through endurance, discipline, and tactical coordination, even as it underscores the moral weight of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the king’s brother-in-law takes up another bow and strikes Sātyaki with successive volleys; then Duhśāsana and Duhsaha also shoot arrows at Sātyaki, intensifying the attack.