Shloka 263
प्रहसन् विशिखांस्तीक्ष्णानुद्यम्य परमास्त्रवित् । 'सात्वत वीर! आजका यह युद्ध ही क्रोध और लोभके सिवा दूसरा क्या है?” उत्तम अस्त्रोंके ज्ञाता सात्यकिने हँसते हुए तीखे बाणोंको ऊपर उठाकर वहाँ पूर्वोक्त बातें करनेवाले दुर्योधनको इस प्रकार उत्तर दिया--
sañjaya uvāca |
prahasan viśikhāṁs tīkṣṇān udyamya paramāstravit |
“sātvata vīra! ājakaṁ idaṁ yuddhaṁ hi krodha-lobhake sivā dūsarā kyā hai?”
uttamāstrāṇāṁ jñātā sātyakir hasate hue tīkṣṇa bāṇoṁ ko ūpar uṭhākar tatra pūrvokta-vākya-kartāraṁ duryodhanaṁ evam uttaram dadau —
Sañjaya said: Smiling, the master of supreme weapons raised his sharp arrows. In response to Duryodhana—who had just spoken those words—Sātyaki, knower of excellent missiles, lifted his keen shafts and answered him in this manner, challenging the claim that the day’s battle was nothing but anger and greed.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral critique of war: it can be driven by inner vices like anger and greed, and a righteous warrior must answer such claims by clarifying motive, duty, and the ethical stakes of the conflict.
Sañjaya narrates that Sātyaki, smiling and readying his sharp arrows, responds to Duryodhana’s prior statement about the battle being fueled by anger and greed, setting up Sātyaki’s rebuttal and the ensuing confrontation.