Shloka 21
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
विष्वक्सेन तु निर्भिन्न दृष्टवा पार्थो धनंजय: । सत्यसेनं शरैस्ती&णैर्वारयित्वा महारथ:
viśvaksenaṁ tu nirbhinnaṁ dṛṣṭvā pārtho dhanañjayaḥ | satyasenaṁ śarais tīkṣṇair vārayitvā mahārathaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Seeing Viśvaksena struck down, Pārtha Dhananjaya (Arjuna), the great chariot-warrior, checked Satyasena with sharp arrows. Then, in the midst of the army, he severed that prince’s ear-ornamented head from his body with keen-edged bhalla shafts.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in its starkest form: when war is joined, a warrior must act decisively to protect his side and neutralize immediate threats. Ethical tension remains—violence is not celebrated, but presented as a grim duty within the battlefield’s code.
Sañjaya reports that Arjuna, seeing Viśvaksena badly struck, turns his attention to Satyasena. He restrains Satyasena with sharp arrows and then kills him by cutting off his head with bhalla shafts amid the army formation.