Shloka 42
धृष्टद्युम्नस्य द्रोणाभिमुख्यं तथा सात्यकि-कर्ण-समागमः
Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s advance toward Droṇa and the Sātyaki–Karṇa confrontation
आत्तशस्त्रस्य हि रणे वृष्णिवीरं जिघांसत: । यदहं बाहुमच्छैत्सं न स धर्मो विगर्हित:,“आप तलवार हाथमें लेकर रणभूमिमें वृष्णिवीर सात्यकिका वध करना चाहते थे। उस दशामें मैंने जो आपकी बाँह काट डाली है, वह आश्रितररक्षारूप धर्म निन्दित नहीं है
āttaśastrasya hi raṇe vṛṣṇivīraṃ jighāṃsataḥ | yad ahaṃ bāhum acchaitsaṃ na sa dharmo vigarhitaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “For you, weapon in hand on the battlefield, were intent on killing the Vṛṣṇi hero Sātyaki. In that situation, the act by which I cut off your arm is not a blameworthy deed; it is a righteous act performed to protect one who had sought refuge.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, an act of violence can be ethically defended when it is performed as dharma—especially as protection of one under threat (and, in the traditional framing, protection of a refuge-seeker). The verse argues that preventing an imminent wrongful killing is not blameworthy.
Sañjaya reports that the opponent, armed and in the thick of battle, was trying to kill the Vṛṣṇi warrior Sātyaki. To stop that attempt, Sañjaya says he severed the attacker’s arm, and he defends this as a righteous, not censurable, action.