Shloka 386
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 94: Sātyaki–Sudarśana Yuddha (सात्यकि–सुदर्शन युद्ध)
अथैनं सप्तसप्तत्या नाराचानां समार्पयत् । राजन्! उस समय राजा श्रुतायुध पाण्डुकुमार अर्जुनके उस पराक्रमको न सह सके। अतः उन्होंने अर्जुनको सतहत्तर बाण मारे
athainaṃ saptasaptatyā nārācānāṃ samārpayat | rājan! tadā rājā śrutāyudhaḥ pāṇḍukumāra-arjunasya taṃ parākramaṃ na soḍhum aśakat | ataḥ sa arjunaṃ saptasaptati-bhiḥ bāṇaiḥ avidhyat |
Sañjaya said: Then he assailed him with seventy-seven nārāca arrows. O King, at that moment King Śrutāyudha could not endure the prowess of Arjuna, the son of Pāṇḍu; therefore he struck Arjuna with seventy-seven shafts. The verse highlights how, in the heat of war, wounded pride and inability to bear another’s excellence quickly turn into retaliatory violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse implicitly warns how the inability to endure another’s excellence (parākrama) can fuel reactive aggression. In the battlefield context, such envy or wounded pride manifests as escalation—an ethical reminder that inner restraint is as significant as outer strength.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that King Śrutāyudha, unable to tolerate Arjuna’s display of prowess, attacks him by shooting seventy-seven nārāca arrows, intensifying the combat episode in Droṇa Parva.