Shloka 283
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)
शरैरग्निशिखाकारैराजघान स्तनान्तरे । त्रिभिरेव महाभाग: शरै: संनतपर्वभि: । इससे महाभाग सात्यकिने समरांगणमें कुपित होकर आपके पुत्रको मोहित करते हुए झुकी हुई गाँठवाले अग्निकी लपटोंके समान प्रज्वलित तीन बाणोंद्वारा उसकी छातीमें गहरी चोट पहुँचायी
śarair agniśikhākārair ājaghāna stanāntare | tribhir eva mahābhāgaḥ śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ |
Sañjaya said: With arrows shaped like tongues of fire, the illustrious warrior struck him in the middle of the chest—indeed, with just three arrows whose joints were bent. Thus, in the fury of battle, Sātyaki bewildered your son and dealt him a deep, searing wound, as if branding him with flame—an image of how wrath and martial skill can eclipse clear judgment amid war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the consuming nature of battle-fury: martial prowess, when driven by anger, can ‘bewilder’ the opponent and inflict swift, decisive harm. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between kṣatriya valor and the moral cost of violence.
Sañjaya reports that the renowned warrior (understood as Sātyaki in the received context) strikes the Kaurava prince—identified in the Gītā Press gloss as ‘your son’—in the chest with three flame-like arrows, stunning/confounding him and causing a deep wound.