Shloka 3
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
शत्रवों हतभूयिष्ठा ज्ञातय: परिपालिता: । गृहीत्वा संजयं चासौ निवृत्त: शिनिपुड्भव:,“भरतनन्दन! शत्रुओंके अधिकांश योद्धा मारे गये और अपने कुटुम्बी जनोंकी रक्षा हुई। उधर देखो, वे शिनिप्रवर सात्यकि संजयको कैद करके उसे साथ लिये लौटे आ रहे हैं। रणभूमिमें सेवकोंसहित धृतराष्ट्रके पापी पुत्रोंसे युद्ध करके दोनों भाई नकुल और सहदेव भी बहुत थक गये हैं
sañjaya uvāca |
śatravo hatabhūyiṣṭhā jñātayaḥ paripālitāḥ |
gṛhītvā sañjayaṃ cāsau nivṛttaḥ śinipuḍbhavaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Most of the enemy warriors have been slain, and our own kinsmen have been protected. And look—Sātyaki, the foremost of the Śinis, has seized Sañjaya and is now returning with him.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a battlefield ethic central to kṣatriya-dharma: the aim is not mere destruction but securing one’s side—protecting one’s own people while neutralizing hostile forces. It also shows that war includes restraint and control (taking a captive) alongside killing.
Sañjaya reports that the enemy has suffered heavy losses and that their own kinsmen have been safeguarded. He then points out that Sātyaki, a leading warrior of the Śini clan, has captured a man named Sañjaya and is returning with him as a prisoner.