Shloka 286
Adhyāya 21 — Duryodhanasya bāṇavarṣaḥ
Duryodhana’s Arrow-Storm and the Dust-Obscured Engagements
अभ्यधावत् कृपो राजन् जिधघांसु: शिनिपुज्भवम् | शत्रुदमन नरेश! कृतवर्माके घोड़ों और सारथिको मारा गया देख कृपाचार्य सात्यकिको मार डालनेकी इच्छासे वहाँ दौड़े हुए आये
abhyadhāvat kṛpo rājan jighāṃsuḥ śinipūjabhavam | śatrudamana nareśa kṛtavarmāke ghōṛōṃ aura sārathikō mārā gayā dēkha kṛpācārya sātyakiko mār ḍālanekī icchāse vahāṃ dauṛe huē āye
Sañjaya said: “O King, Kripa rushed forward, intent on killing the descendant of the Śinis. O ruler who subdues foes, seeing that Kṛtavarmā’s horses and charioteers had been slain, the preceptor Kṛpa ran there with the resolve to strike down Sātyaki.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how battlefield loyalty and retaliation can swiftly escalate into personal vendetta. It implicitly cautions that even revered figures (like a preceptor) may be driven by wrath and factional duty, showing the ethical strain war places on discernment (dharma-viveka).
Sañjaya reports to the king that Kṛpācārya, seeing Kṛtavarmā’s horses and charioteers killed, charges forward with the intention of killing Sātyaki, identified as a descendant of the Śini lineage.