Shloka 1
Sātyaki’s Assurance and the Protection of Dharmarāja (सात्यकिवचनम्—धर्मराजरक्षणविचारः)
हि ही बक। हि मा चतुरशीतितमो< ध्याय: युधिष्ठिरका अर्जुनको आशीर्वाद, कद हक का स्वप्न सुनकर समस्त सुहृदोंकी प्रसन्नता, सात्यकि और श्रीकृष्णके साथ रथपर बैठकर अर्जुनकी रणयात्रा तथा अर्जुनके कहनेसे सात्यकिका युधिष्ठिरकी रक्षाके लिये जाना संजय उवाच तथा तु वदतां तेषां प्रादुरासीद् धनंजय: । दिदृक्षुर्भरतश्रेष्ठ राजानं ससुह्ददूगणम्,संजय कहते हैं--राजन! इस प्रकार उन लोगोंमें बातचीत हो ही रही थी कि सुहृदोंसहित भरतश्रेष्ठ राजा युधिष्ठिरका दर्शन करनेकी इच्छासे अर्जुन वहाँ आ गये
sañjaya uvāca | tathā tu vadatāṁ teṣāṁ prādurāsīd dhanañjayaḥ | didṛkṣur bharataśreṣṭhaṁ rājānaṁ sa-suhṛd-gaṇam ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, while they were still speaking in this way, Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) suddenly appeared there, eager to see the best of the Bharatas—King Yudhiṣṭhira—together with his circle of well-wishing friends. The moment signals Arjuna’s renewed sense of duty: he seeks his elder’s welfare and the moral center of the Pāṇḍava cause even amid the pressures of war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in the chaos of battle, righteous action is anchored in accountability to dharma and to legitimate authority: Arjuna’s first impulse is to see Yudhiṣṭhira and the well-wishers, reaffirming that power and strategy must remain aligned with moral leadership and communal welfare.
As the group is conversing, Arjuna suddenly arrives, intending to meet King Yudhiṣṭhira along with his companions. The verse functions as a narrative transition, introducing Arjuna’s presence and setting up the ensuing decisions and movements in the campaign.