Shloka 42
शैनेयचरितम्
The Exploits of Śaineya/Sātyaki amid Encirclement
शकुनिस्तु सहानीको माद्रीपुत्रमवारयत् । गान्धारकै:ः सप्तशतैश्लापशक्त्यसिपाणिशभि:,सेनासहित शकुनिने माद्रीपुत्र नकुलका प्रतिरोध किया। उसके साथ हाथोंमें धनुष, शक्ति और तलवार लिये सात सौ गान्धार-देशीय योद्धा मौजूद थे
śakunistu sahānīko mādrīputram avārayat | gāndhārakaiḥ saptśataiḥ śarāpaśaktyasipāṇibhiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Śakuni, supported by his own contingent, checked Mādrī’s son (Nakula). With him stood seven hundred warriors of Gandhāra, bearing arrows, spears, and swords—an organized resistance raised to halt Nakula’s advance amid the moral chaos of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, personal valor is met by organized force and strategy; it implicitly underscores the Kṣatriya world where resistance and counter-resistance are expected, even as the larger conflict tests dharma through alliances, tactics, and the escalation of violence.
Sañjaya reports that Śakuni confronts and restrains Nakula’s advance, doing so with a supporting detachment—seven hundred Gandhāra fighters armed with arrows, spears, and swords—forming a concentrated defensive/offensive block against Nakula.