Shloka 1
ऑपनआक्रा बछ। अंक अष्टषष्ट्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय: शतानीकके द्वारा चित्रसेनकी और वृषसेनके द्वारा द्रुपदकी पराजय तथा प्रतिविन्ध्य एवं दुःशासनका युद्ध संजय उवाच शतानीकं शरैस्तूर्ण निर्दहन्तं चमूं तव । चित्रसेनस्तव सुतो वारयामास भारत,संजय कहते हैं--भारत! एक ओरसे नकुलपुत्र शतानीक अपनी शराग्निसे आपकी सेनाको भस्म करता हुआ आ रहा था। उसे आपके पुत्र चित्रसेनने रोका
sañjaya uvāca | śatānīkaṃ śarais tūrṇaṃ nirdahantaṃ camūṃ tava | citrasenas tava suto vārayāmāsa bhārata ||
Sanjaya said: O Bharata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), as Śatānīka swiftly advanced, scorching your army with his arrows as though with fire, your son Citrasena checked and held him back. The scene underscores how, amid the chaos of battle, individual prowess and duty to one’s side drive warriors to counter violence with violence, each acting according to allegiance and the harsh code of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic where warriors, bound by allegiance and kṣatriya-dharma, respond to aggression by countering it; personal valor is framed as duty to protect one’s side, even when the overall war is morally tragic.
Śatānīka, fighting fiercely, is described as burning through Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s forces with rapid volleys of arrows; Citrasena, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son, confronts him and stops his advance.