Shloka 41
(सात्वतस्य च भल््लेन निष्पिष्टैस्तैस्तथाद्रिभि: । न्यपतन् निहता म्लेच्छास्तत्र तत्र गतासव: ।।
saṃjaya uvāca |
sātvatasyaca bhallena niṣpiṣṭaistaiḥ tathādribhiḥ |
nyapatan nihatā mlecchāstatra tatra gatāsavaḥ ||
te hanyamānāḥ samare sātvatena mahātmanā |
abhrāśmavṛṣṭiṃ mahāghorāṃ pātayanti sma sātvatam ||
pāṣāṇayodhinaḥ śūrān yatamānānavasthitān |
nyavadhīd bahusāhasrāṃstadadbhutamivābhavat ||
サンジャヤは言った。「サートヴァタの鋭い矢に射抜かれ、またその矢によって砕け散った岩塊に押し潰されて、ムレッチャの戦士たちは命を失い、あちこちに屍をさらして倒れた。しかも、大いなる心のサートヴァタ（サーティヤキ）が戦場で彼らを斬り伏せるさなか、彼らはなおも彼に向けて恐るべき石の嵐を降らせた。石を武器として戦う勇士たち—勝利を求めて踏みとどまり、数千に及んだ者ども—は、ことごとくサーティヤキに討ち滅ぼされ、まるで奇瑞のようであった。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights steadfastness and martial resolve amid extreme danger: even when attacked by a terrifying barrage, the warrior remains firm in duty. It also underscores the epic’s moral tension—extraordinary prowess in war is narrated with wonder, while the human cost (bodies strewn across the field) is kept plainly in view.
Sañjaya describes Sātyaki (called the Sātvata) striking down Mleccha troops. His arrows shatter rocks into fragments that crush them; as they are being slain, they retaliate by hurling a dreadful rain of stones. Despite their great numbers, Sātyaki kills them all, an event portrayed as astonishing.