Shloka 70
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
तथा तु विरथं कर्ण पुत्रांश्ष॒ तव पार्थिव,राजन्! अपने मनको वशमें करनेवाले सात्यकिने रथहीन हुए कर्णको तथा दुःशासन आदि आपके वीर पुत्रोंको भी उस समय इसलिये नहीं मारा कि वे भीमसेन और अर्जुनकी पहलेसे की हुई प्रतिज्ञाकी रक्षा कर रहे थे
tathā tu virathaṁ karṇa-putrāṁś ca tava pārthiva, rājan, apane manako vaśaṁ karanevāle sātyakine rathahīna hue karṇako tathā duḥśāsana-ādīn āpake vīra putrān api tadā tasmād na jaghāna, yat te’pi bhīmasena-arjunābhyāṁ pūrvaṁ kṛtāyāḥ pratijñāyāḥ rakṣāṁ kurvanti sma.
Sanjaya said: O king, when Karna had been left without a chariot, self-controlled Satyaki still did not kill him; nor did he then slay your valiant sons such as Duhshasana. He refrained for this reason: they were, at that moment, upholding the earlier vows made by Bhimasena and Arjuna—so Satyaki chose not to violate the moral boundary set by those pledged claims.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, restraint guided by dharma matters: Satyaki does not exploit Karna’s chariotless vulnerability, and he respects the moral-legal space created by Bhima and Arjuna’s prior vows, showing that pledged claims and ethical boundaries can limit violence.
During the Kurukshetra battle, Karna becomes chariotless. Satyaki, though capable of killing him (and also Duhshasana and other Kaurava princes present), refrains because those opponents fall under the scope of earlier vows made by Bhima and Arjuna, and Satyaki chooses not to interfere with or violate those pledged undertakings.