Shloka 1
Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 77 — Saindhava resistance, Arjuna’s restraint, and Duḥśalā’s supplication
ऑपन-माज बछ। डे सप्तसप्ततितमो<ध्याय: अर्जुनका सैन्धवोंके साथ युद्ध वैशम्पायन उवाच (जित्वा प्रसाद्य राजानं भगदत्तसुतं तदा । विसृज्य याते तुरगे सैन्धवान् प्रति भारत ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
jitvā prasādya rājānaṃ bhagadattasutaṃ tadā |
visṛjya yāte turage saindhavān prati bhārata ||
saindhavair abhavad yuddhaṃ tatas tasya kirīṭinaḥ |
hataśeṣair mahārāja hatānāṃ ca sutair api ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Oh Bhārata, después de que Arjuna derrotara y luego, con gracia, apaciguara al rey Vajradatta, hijo de Bhagadatta, y lo despidiera, el caballo del sacrificio avanzó hacia la tierra del Sindhu. Entonces Arjuna, el de la diadema, se vio envuelto en una fiera batalla con los guerreros del Sindhu que habían sobrevivido a la gran guerra, y también con los hijos de los reyes que habían caído.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a campaign of conquest, the narrative highlights measured kingship: Arjuna defeats Vajradatta yet then ‘prasādya’—treats him with conciliatory favor—showing that power is ideally tempered by restraint and political reconciliation, not mere destruction.
During Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha, Arjuna escorts the sacrificial horse. After dealing with Vajradatta, the horse enters Sindhu territory, where Arjuna is challenged and fights the Saindhavas—both survivors of the earlier Mahābhārata war and the sons of kings who had fallen.