Shloka 15
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)
योधान् पञ्चशतान् मुख्यानग्रयानीके व्यपोथयत् । तब सात्यकिने युद्धमें बाण-वर्षा करते हुए आक्रमण करनेवाले पाँच सौ प्रमुख योद्धाओंको सेनाके मुहानेपर मार गिराया ।। १४ $ ।। तेडपतन् निहतास्तूर्ण शिनिप्रवरसायकै:
yodhān pañcaśatān mukhyān agrayānīke vyapothayat | tataḥ sātyakine yuddhe bāṇa-varṣāṃ kurvataḥ ākramaṇakārinaḥ pañcaśatān pramukhān yodhān senā-mukhena mārayām āsa || te patan nihatās tūrṇaṃ śini-pravara-sāyakaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: At the very front of the battle-array, he struck down five hundred foremost warriors. Then, as Sātyaki advanced in the fight, showering arrows, five hundred leading fighters who rushed to attack him were felled at the mouth of the army. They dropped swiftly, slain by the excellent missiles of the best of the Śinis.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds kṣatriya-dharma in its starkest form: disciplined martial action at the battle-front, where prowess and resolve decide outcomes. Ethically, it highlights the gravity of war—heroic skill is praised, yet the narrative also underscores the swift, mass loss of life that follows from aggressive assault.
Sañjaya reports that Sātyaki, advancing at the head of the formation and releasing a dense shower of arrows, cuts down five hundred prominent warriors who rush to attack him. The attackers fall quickly, struck by Sātyaki’s missiles.