Shloka 21
अर्जुनस्य गुरुधर्मविलापः तथा शैनेयकर्णयोर्युद्धारम्भः | Arjuna’s Lament on Guru-Dharma and the Opening of the Sātyaki–Karṇa Duel
तानेवं ब्रुवतो वीरान् सात्यकिर्निशितै: शरै: । जघान त्रिशतानश्चान् कुज्जरांश्व चतु:ःशतान्,(लघ्वस्त्रश्चनित्रयोधी च प्रहसन् शिनिपुड्भवः ।) शीघ्रतापूर्वक अस्त्र चलानेवाले एवं विचित्र युद्धकी कलामें निपुण शिनिप्रवर सात्यकिने हँसते हुए वहाँ उपर्युक्त बातें बोलनेवाले तीन सौ वीर घुड़सवारों तथा चार सौ हाथीसवारोंको अपने तीखे बाणोंसे मार गिराया
sañjaya uvāca |
tān evaṁ bruvato vīrān sātyakir niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ |
jaghāna triśatān aśvān kuñjarāṁś catuḥśatān ||
Sañjaya dit : Tandis que ces héros parlaient ainsi, Sātyaki les frappa de ses flèches acérées : trois cents cavaliers et quatre cents guerriers montés sur des éléphants. Le meilleur des Śini, prompt à décocher ses armes et maître d’un art de guerre singulier, les abattit en souriant, eux qui lançaient ces clameurs.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grim ethic of battlefield dharma: in war, declarations and threats quickly give way to action, and mastery of arms becomes decisive. It also implicitly points to the moral cost of conflict—numbers and efficiency replace individual lives, revealing war’s dehumanizing momentum.
Sañjaya reports that Sātyaki, responding to warriors who were speaking boastfully or challengingly, shoots them down with sharp arrows—three hundred cavalry and four hundred from the elephant corps—demonstrating his speed and lethal effectiveness in the Drona Parva battle.