Shloka 23
Adhyāya 143: Nocturnal duels—Nākuli and Citraseṇa; Vṛṣasena’s assault; Duḥśāsana vs Prativindhya
एष राजसहस्राणां वक्त्रै: पड़कजसंनिभै: । आस्तीर्य वसुधां पार्थ क्षिप्रमायाति सात्यकि:,'कुन्तीनन्दर! यह सात्यकि सहस्रों राजाओंके कमलसदृश मस्तकोंद्वारा इस रणभूमिको पाटकर शीघ्रतापूर्वक इधर आ रहा है
sañjaya uvāca |
eṣa rājasahasrāṇāṁ vaktraiḥ paṅkajasaṁnibhaiḥ |
āstīrya vasudhāṁ pārtha kṣipram āyāti sātyakiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O Pārtha, Sātyaki is coming here swiftly—having strewn the earth with the lotus-like faces of thousands of kings.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of warfare: even when narrated as valor, the reality is that the earth is ‘covered’ with the fallen—here, thousands of kings. It implicitly cautions that martial success entails immense human cost and the collapse of worldly power.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Sātyaki is rapidly approaching Arjuna’s side, having cut down many royal warriors on the way—so many that the battlefield ground is described as strewn with their lotus-like faces.