Shloka 6
अध्याय १५९ — रात्रौ श्रमविरामः
Night Exhaustion and Brief Pause in Battle
सोमदत्तो5पि तं वीरं शतेन प्रत्यविध्यत । सात्वतस्त्वभिसंक्रुद्ध: पुत्राधिभिरभिप्लुतम्,सोमदत्तने भी वीर भीमसेनको सौ बाणोंसे वेधकर बदला चुकाया। इधर सात्यकिने भी अत्यन्त कुपित हो पुत्रशोकमें डूबे हुए, नहुषनन्दन ययातिकी भाँति वृद्धताके गुणोंसे युक्त बूढ़े सोमदत्तको वज्रको भी मार गिरानेवाले दस तीखे बाणोंसे बींध डाला
Somadatto 'pi taṃ vīraṃ śatena pratyavidhyata | Sātvatas tv abhisaṃkruddhaḥ putrādhībhiḥ abhiplutam, Somadattaṃ ca vṛddhaṃ vajrasyāpi nipātinaḥ daśabhiḥ tīkṣṇaiḥ śaraiḥ vivyādha ||
Sañjaya said: “Somadatta too repaid that hero by piercing Bhīma with a hundred arrows. Then Sātyaki, fiercely enraged and overwhelmed by grief for his sons, struck the aged Somadatta—bearing the qualities of old age—like Yayāti, Nahusha’s descendant, piercing him with ten sharp arrows capable of bringing down even one as hard as a vajra.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how grief and anger can drive escalation in war: even an elder like Somadatta becomes a target when retaliation and personal loss overpower restraint. It implicitly warns that emotional overwhelm (śoka, krodha) can distort judgment within the demands of kṣatriya duty.
Somadatta retaliates by striking a warrior with a hundred arrows. In response, Sātyaki—furious and grieving his sons—pierces the aged Somadatta with ten very sharp arrows, intensifying the exchange amid the chaos of battle.