Shloka 50
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
सुदर्शनमदृश्यं तं शरैश्नक्रे हसन्निव । ततोअस्य प्रहसन् क्रुद्ध: शिर: कायादपाहरत्
sudarśanam adṛśyaṃ taṃ śaraiḥ śakre hasann iva | tato 'sya prahasan kruddhaḥ śiraḥ kāyād apāharat ||
संजय बोले—इन्द्र ने मानो हँसते हुए अपने बाणों से उस सुदर्शन को अदृश्य कर दिया। फिर वह क्रोध से भरा हुआ, हँसता-सा, उसका सिर धड़ से अलग कर ले गया।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the swift and overwhelming nature of superior power in a righteous-cosmic order: in the chaos of war, arrogance or unchecked aggression can meet sudden retribution, and even a warrior’s strength is fragile before a higher force.
Sañjaya narrates that Indra (Śakra) strikes Sudarśana with arrows so that he becomes unseen, and then—laughing yet enraged—Indra severs Sudarśana’s head from his body, describing a decisive killing blow.