Shloka 65
उत्सृजैनमहं चैनमेष वा मां हनिष्यति | “अथवा केवल अर्जुन युद्धके मैदानमें इन समस्त कौरवोंको रोकेंगे, तबतक मैं भी अपने बाणोंद्वारा इस सात्यकिका मस्तक काट गिराऊँगा। यह मुझे भी रणभूमिमें कटी हुई बाँहवाला भूरिश्रवा समझता है। तुम छोड़ दो इसे। या तो मैं इसे मार डालूँगा या यह मुझे” ।। शृण्वन् पाज्चालवाक्यानि सात्यकि: सर्पवच्छवसन्
utsṛjainaṁ ahaṁ cainaṁ eṣa vā māṁ haniṣyati | athavā kevala arjuna yuddhake maidānameṁ in samasta kauravõko rokeṅge, tabtaka maiṁ bhī apane bāṇõdvārā isa sātyakikā mastaka kāṭa girāūṁgā | yaha mujhe bhī raṇabhūmimeṁ kaṭī huī bāṁhavālā bhūriśravā samajhatā hai | tuma choṛa do ise | yā to maiṁ ise mār ḍālūṁgā yā yaha mujhe || śṛṇvan pāñcālavākyāni sātyakiḥ sarpavacchvasan
Sanjaya said: “Release him. Either I will kill him, or he will kill me. Or else, while Arjuna alone holds back all these Kauravas on the battlefield, I too will cut down Sātyaki’s head with my arrows. He takes me to be another Bhūriśravas—one whose arm has been severed on the field. Let him go. Either I will slay him, or he will slay me.” Hearing these words spoken by the Pāñcālas, Sātyaki, hissing like a serpent, …
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the volatile ethics of battlefield dharma: personal honor and vengeance can quickly override restraint. The speaker frames the situation as a stark kṣatriya ultimatum—release the opponent or face mutual destruction—showing how anger and perceived humiliation (being compared to the wounded Bhūriśravas) intensify violence and narrow moral choices.
In the Drona Parva battle sequence, a warrior (speaking through Sanjaya’s narration) demands that Sātyaki be released, threatening that otherwise he will kill Sātyaki (or be killed by him). He also invokes Arjuna’s capacity to hold off the Kaurava host, claiming he will use that opening to behead Sātyaki. Sātyaki, hearing the Pāñcālas’ words, reacts with serpent-like hissing—signaling fury and readiness to retaliate.