Shloka 416
Bhūriśravas–Sātyaki Saṃvāda and Duel; Arjuna’s Intervention (भूरिश्रवाः–सात्यकि संवादः, युद्धम्, अर्जुन-हस्तक्षेपः)
विव्याध षष्ट्या सुभृशं शराणां प्रहसन्निव । ऐसा कहकर सात्यकिने हँसते हुए ही साठ बाणोंद्वारा जलसंधकी चौड़ी छातीपर गहरी चोट पहुँचायी
vivyādha ṣaṣṭyā subhṛśaṃ śarāṇāṃ prahasann iva |
Sañjaya said: Smiling, as though in derision, he struck him fiercely with sixty arrows, driving them deep—an act that intensifies the ruthless momentum of the battle and displays the warrior’s deliberate, almost taunting resolve amid the collapse of restraint in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the Mahābhārata’s war ethic, prowess can be coupled with psychological dominance (smiling or mockery). It implicitly warns that martial skill without inner restraint can harden into cruelty, showing how dharma in war is continually tested by anger, pride, and the urge to humiliate.
Sañjaya narrates a combat moment: a warrior pierces his opponent powerfully with sixty arrows, doing so while smiling as if mocking—signaling both physical superiority and a taunting intent that heightens the ferocity of the encounter.