Shloka 41
(सात्वतस्य च भल््लेन निष्पिष्टैस्तैस्तथाद्रिभि: । न्यपतन् निहता म्लेच्छास्तत्र तत्र गतासव: ।।
saṃjaya uvāca |
sātvatasyaca bhallena niṣpiṣṭaistaiḥ tathādribhiḥ |
nyapatan nihatā mlecchāstatra tatra gatāsavaḥ ||
te hanyamānāḥ samare sātvatena mahātmanā |
abhrāśmavṛṣṭiṃ mahāghorāṃ pātayanti sma sātvatam ||
pāṣāṇayodhinaḥ śūrān yatamānānavasthitān |
nyavadhīd bahusāhasrāṃstadadbhutamivābhavat ||
Sañjaya dijo: Alcanzados por las agudas flechas del Sātvata, y aplastados por las mismas rocas que aquellos dardos hicieron añicos, los guerreros mleccha cayeron muertos, esparcidos aquí y allá. Y aun así, mientras el magnánimo Sātvata (Sātyaki) los abatía en el campo de batalla, ellos descargaban sobre él una pavorosa lluvia de piedras, como un aguacero de roca. Aquellos héroes que combatían con piedras—firmes y empeñados en la victoria, por miles—fueron todos aniquilados por Sātyaki; parecía casi un prodigio.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights steadfastness and martial resolve amid extreme danger: even when attacked by a terrifying barrage, the warrior remains firm in duty. It also underscores the epic’s moral tension—extraordinary prowess in war is narrated with wonder, while the human cost (bodies strewn across the field) is kept plainly in view.
Sañjaya describes Sātyaki (called the Sātvata) striking down Mleccha troops. His arrows shatter rocks into fragments that crush them; as they are being slain, they retaliate by hurling a dreadful rain of stones. Despite their great numbers, Sātyaki kills them all, an event portrayed as astonishing.