Shloka 53
कर्णेन वृषसेनेन सैन्धवेन तथैव च । विक्रोशतां च सैन्यानामवधीत् तं धृतव्रतम्,उस समय समस्त सेनाके लोग चिल्ला-चिल्लाकर सात्यकिकी निन्दा कर रहे थे। परंतु सात्यकिकी मनोदशा बहुत बुरी थी। भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण तथा महात्मा अर्जुन भी उन्हें रोक रहे थे। भीमसेन, चक्ररक्षक युधामन्यु और उत्तमौजा, अश्वत्थामा, कृपाचार्य, कर्ण, वृषसेन तथा सिंधुराज जयद्रथ भी उन्हें मना करते रहे, किंतु समस्त सैनिकोंके चीखने-चिल्लानेपर भी सात्यकिने उस व्रतधारी भूरिश्रवाका वध कर ही डाला
karṇena vṛṣasenena saindhavena tathaiva ca | vikrośatāṃ ca sainyānām avadhīt taṃ dhṛtavratam ||
Sañjaya said: Even as Karṇa, Vṛṣasena, and Jayadratha (the lord of Sindhu) protested, and as the armies cried out in alarm, Sātyaki nevertheless slew that steadfast man of vowed conduct. The moment is ethically charged: the battlefield’s collective outcry and the attempts of great warriors to restrain him highlight how rage and the momentum of violence can overwhelm the restraints of dharma, even when the victim is known for ascetic resolve and disciplined vows.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the tension between vowed righteousness and the chaos of war: even when respected figures protest and the wider host cries out, a warrior driven by anger can still commit an act perceived as adharma. It warns how quickly moral restraint can collapse once violence becomes self-justifying.
Sañjaya reports that despite objections from major Kaurava warriors—Karṇa, Vṛṣasena, and Jayadratha—and despite the troops shouting, Sātyaki kills the 'dhṛtavrata' (the steadfast man of vows), understood in context as Bhūriśravas, marking a climactic and controversial killing on the battlefield.