Shloka 17
Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)
“आज राजा धूृतराष्ट्र अपने पुत्रको मारा गया सुनकर व्याकुल हो पृथ्वीपर पछाड़ खाकर गिरें और दु:ख भोगें ।। अद्य जानातु कौन्तेयं समर्थ सर्वधन्विनाम् । अद्यात्मानं च दुर्मेधा ग्हयिष्यति पापकृत्
adya jānātu kaunteyaṁ samarthaṁ sarva-dhanvinām | adyātmānaṁ ca durmedhā grahīṣyati pāpakṛt ||
Sañjaya said: “Today, let Kuntī’s son know who is the mightiest among all archers. Today, that evil-doer of perverted understanding will be forced to face his own true measure.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield prowess as inseparable from moral consequence: the wrongdoer (pāpakṛt) is driven to self-recognition (ātmānam grahīṣyati), implying that arrogance and adharma culminate in an unavoidable reckoning.
Sañjaya, narrating the war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, declares that “today” Kaunteya (Arjuna) will recognize the foremost power among archers, and that the culpable, misguided opponent will be compelled to face his true standing—signaling an imminent decisive encounter or demonstration of superior martial skill.