Shloka 14
अर्जुनस्य जयद्रथाभिमुखप्रयाणं तथा कर्णेन प्रतिरोधः
Arjuna’s renewed advance toward Jayadratha and Karṇa’s resistance
अथास्य सूतस्य शिरो निकृत्य भल्लेन शक्राशनिसंनि भेन । सुदर्शनस्यापि शिनिप्रवीर: क्षुरेण कालानलसंनिभेन,राजन! तत्पश्चात् इन्द्रके वज़तुल्य भल्लसे उनके सारथिका सिर काटकर शिनिवंशके प्रमुख वीर सात्यकिने कालाग्निके समान तेजस्वी छुरेसे सुदर्शनके पूर्ण चन्द्रमाके समान प्रकाशमान शोभाशाली कुण्डलमण्डित मस्तकको भी धड़से काट गिराया। ठीक उसी प्रकार, जैसे पूर्वकालमें वज्रधारी इन्द्रने समरांगणमें अत्यन्त बलवान् बलासुरका सिर बलपूर्वक काट लिया था
athāsya sūtasya śiro nikṛtya bhallena śakrāśani-saṃnibhena | sudarśanasyāpi śini-pravīraḥ kṣureṇa kālānala-saṃnibhena, rājan |
Sañjaya said: Then, O King, the foremost hero of the Śini line (Sātyaki) severed the head of his opponent’s charioteer with a broad-headed arrow, like Indra’s thunderbolt. Thereafter, with a razor-like weapon blazing like the fire of Time, he also struck down Sudarśana’s head—adorned with shining earrings and radiant like the full moon—so that it fell from the body. It was as when, in former days, Indra the wielder of the vajra cut off the mighty Bala’s head on the battlefield. The passage underscores the grim ethics of war: prowess is praised, yet the narration also highlights how violence escalates to the killing of supporting combatants, revealing the tragic momentum of adharma within battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates the Mahābhārata’s moral tension in war: martial excellence is celebrated through grand similes, yet the narrative also exposes how conflict drives fighters to increasingly ruthless acts (even killing charioteers), suggesting the tragic drift from restraint toward adharma once violence becomes self-propelling.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Sātyaki first cuts off the head of an enemy charioteer with a bhalla arrow, then beheads the warrior Sudarśana with a razor-like weapon, comparing the feat to Indra’s ancient slaying of the asura Bala.