Shloka 21
Droṇavadha-saṃniveśaḥ — The Convergence Toward Droṇa’s Fall
Book 7, Chapter 164
तब रणक्षेत्रमें कुपित हुए सात्यकिने भी तीखे क्षुरप्र नामक भल्लसे धनुर्धर सोमदत्तके धनुषको काट दिया ।। अथैनं रुक्मपुड्खानां शतेन नतपर्वणाम् | आचिनोद् बहुधा राजन् भग्नदंष्टमिव द्विपम्,राजन! तत्पश्चात् उन्होंने झुकी हुई गाँठ और सुवर्णमय पंखवाले सौ बाणोंसे टूटे दाँतवाले हाथीके समान सोमदत्तके शरीरको अनेक बार बींध दिया
atha enaṁ rukmapuṅkhānāṁ śatena nataparvaṇām | ācinod bahudhā rājan bhagnadaṁṣṭram iva dvipam ||
Sañjaya dit : Alors Sātyaki, furieux sur le champ de bataille, transperça Somadatta à maintes reprises de cent flèches—aux empennages d’or et aux jointures flexibles—le perçant encore et encore, tel un éléphant aux défenses brisées.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, anger and duty can drive relentless force against a weakened opponent; it implicitly warns that martial prowess is fragile and that combat often escalates beyond restraint once fury takes hold.
Sātyaki attacks Somadatta with a volley of one hundred gold-feathered, jointed arrows, piercing him repeatedly; Somadatta is compared to a tusk-broken elephant, emphasizing his battered, vulnerable state under sustained assault.