Shloka 14
ततः पापतरं कर्म कृतवानपि सात्यकि: । यस्मात् प्रायोपविष्टस्य प्राहार्षीत् संशितात्मन:
tataḥ pāpataraṃ karma kṛtavān api sātyakiḥ | yasmāt prāyopaviṣṭasya prāhārṣīt saṃśitātmanaḥ ||
Then Sātyaki, though already guilty of wrongdoing, committed an even more sinful act—because he struck down a self-controlled man who had sat in fast unto death (prāyopaveśa), a posture meant for renunciation rather than combat. The narrative underscores the ethical collapse that follows war: violence spills beyond the battlefield’s codes, and even restraint and penitential resolve are violated.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a grave ethical boundary: harming someone engaged in prāyopaveśa (a renunciatory, penitential fast unto death) is portrayed as a deeper sin than ordinary wartime violence. It signals how adharma intensifies when violence disregards restraint, vulnerability, and sacred vows.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Sātyaki committed an even worse deed by striking a disciplined person who had undertaken prāyopaveśa—someone no longer acting as a combatant but as a penitent. The scene belongs to the post-war moral unraveling depicted in Strī Parva.