Shloka 4
सहदेवस्ततो राजन् नाराचेन तवात्मजम् | विद्ध्वा विव्याध सप्तत्या सारथिं च त्रिभि: शरै:,राजन्! तब सहदेवने आपके पुत्रको एक नाराचसे घायल करके पुनः सत्तर बाणोंसे बींध डाला। तत्पश्चात् उनके सारथिको भी तीन बाण मारे
saḥdevastato rājan nārācena tavātmajam | viddhvā vivyādha saptatyā sārathiṃ ca tribhiḥ śaraiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Then, O King, Sahadeva struck your son with a nārāca (a heavy, iron arrow). Having pierced him, he further transfixed him with seventy arrows, and he also wounded his charioteer with three shafts.” The verse underscores the relentless, escalating violence of the battlefield—skill and resolve expressed through measured, targeted strikes, yet set within the tragic moral tension of kin-slaying in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grim reality of dharma in wartime: martial excellence and duty-driven resolve can manifest as precise, escalating force, yet the ethical tension remains—victory is pursued through violence against one’s own kin-group, revealing the tragedy embedded in the Kurukṣetra conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Sahadeva wounds the king’s son with a heavy nārāca arrow, then showers him with seventy more arrows, and also strikes the charioteer with three arrows—depicting a decisive, overpowering assault in the battle.