Shloka 383
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
जघान द्विरदस्थं त॑ शत्रु प्रचलितासनम् । तत्पश्चात् राजा भगदत्तने सूर्यकी किरणोंके समान चमकीले सात तोमरोंद्वारा हाथीपर बैठे हुए शत्रु दशार्णगजको, जिसका आसन विचलित हो गया था, मार डाला
jaghāna dviradasthaṃ taṃ śatruṃ pracalitāsanam | tatpaścāt rājā bhagadattena sūryakī kiraṇoṃ ke samāna camakīle sāta tomarondvārā hāthīpar baiṭhe hue śatru daśārṇagajaṃ, yasyāsanaṃ vicalitaṃ abhavat, mārayām āsa |
Sañjaya said: He struck down that enemy who was seated upon an elephant, whose seat had been shaken loose. Thereafter King Bhagadatta, using seven bright javelins that flashed like the rays of the sun, slew the foe mounted on the elephant—Daśārṇagaja—whose position had already been destabilized, revealing the harsh, uncompromising logic of battlefield duty.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the severe, duty-bound nature of kṣatriya conduct in war: once an opponent is destabilized, a warrior-king is expected to act decisively. It reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between dharma as obligation (battlefield duty) and the moral weight of violence.
Sañjaya reports that an enemy seated on an elephant has his seat shaken; immediately afterward, King Bhagadatta hurls seven sun-bright javelins and kills the elephant-mounted foe identified as Daśārṇagaja.