Shloka 8
Somadatta–Sātyaki Engagement; Bhīma’s Interventions; Droṇa–Yudhiṣṭhira Astra Exchange
Book 7, Chapter 132
निर्जयस्तव विप्राग्रय सात्वतेनार्जुनेन च । तथैव भीमसेनेन लोक: संवदते भूशम्,“विप्रवर! सात्यकि, भीमसेन तथा अर्जुनके द्वारा आपकी पराजय समुद्रको सुखा देनेके समान इस संसारमें एक आश्चर्यभरी घटना है। लोग बड़े जोरसे इस बातकी चर्चा कर रहे हैं
nirjayastava viprāgrya sātvatena arjunena ca | tathaiva bhīmasenena lokaḥ saṃvadate bhūśam ||
Sañjaya said: “O foremost of Brahmins, people everywhere are speaking loudly of your defeat—brought about by Sātyaki, Arjuna, and likewise Bhīmasena. In the moral imagination of the world, such a reversal is treated as a startling, almost unimaginable event, and it has become the subject of intense public talk.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary martial outcomes reshape reputation: public speech (loka-saṃvāda) magnifies reversals of fortune, reminding that worldly fame and blame are unstable and contingent on changing circumstances in war.
Sañjaya reports to a respected listener (addressed as viprāgrya) that people are loudly discussing a notable defeat inflicted by the warriors Sātyaki, Arjuna, and Bhīmasena, treating it as a remarkable and widely talked-about event.