Shloka 2
Nakula–Śakuni Duel and the Night Battle; Śikhaṇḍin–Kṛpa Engagement (नकुल-शकुनियुद्धं तथा रात्रियुद्धवर्णनम्)
तमब्रवीन्महाराज कौरव्य: शिनिपुड्गवम् | अद्य प्राप्तोडसि दिष्ट्या मे चक्षुरविषयमित्युत,महाराज! कुरुनन्दन भूरिश्रवाने उस समय शिनिप्रवर सात्यकिसे इस प्रकार कहा --'युयुधान! बड़े सौभाग्यकी बात है कि आज तुम मेरी आँखोंके सामने आ गये। आज युद्धमें मैं अपनी बहुत दिनोंकी इच्छा पूर्ण करूँगा। यदि तुम मैदान छोड़कर भाग नहीं गये तो आज मेरे हाथसे जीवित नहीं बचोगे
tam abravīn mahārāja kauravyaḥ śinipuṅgavam | adya prāpto'si diṣṭyā me cakṣur-aviṣayam iti ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, the Kaurava warrior addressed the foremost of the Śinis: ‘Yuyudhāna, by good fortune you have come today within the range of my sight. Today, in battle, I shall fulfill a long-cherished desire. If you do not abandon the field and flee, you will not escape alive from my hands.’”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior-code atmosphere of the battlefield: personal vows and long-held enmities surface as direct challenges. Ethically, it shows how desire for revenge and the rhetoric of humiliation (“if you don’t flee…”) can intensify violence and narrow one’s moral vision in war.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a Kaurava warrior confronts Sātyaki (called the best of the Śinis), declaring that it is ‘fortunate’ Sātyaki has come into his sight and threatening to kill him that very day unless he flees the battlefield.