Shloka 30
Droṇavadha-saṃniveśaḥ — The Convergence Toward Droṇa’s Fall
Book 7, Chapter 164
सारथेश्न शिर: कायाद् भल्लेन नतपर्वणा । जहार नरशार्दूल: प्रहसज्छिनिपुड्रव:,इसके बाद पुरुषसिंह शिनिप्रवर सात्यकिने हँसते हुए झुकी हुई गाँठवाले भल्लसे सोमदत्तके सारथिका सिर धड़से अलग कर दिया
sārathes tu śiraḥ kāyād bhallena nataparvaṇā | jahāra naraśārdūlaḥ prahasac chīnipuṅgavaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then the tiger among men, Sātyaki—the foremost of the Śini line—laughing as he fought, severed with a bhalla arrow (whose joints were bent) the charioteer’s head from his body. In the brutal ethics of battlefield duty, this act shows the relentless execution of a kṣatriya’s war-task: disabling the enemy’s capacity to fight by striking down the chariot’s support, even as the violence remains stark and unsparing.
संजय उवाच