Shloka 15
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)
योधान् पञ्चशतान् मुख्यानग्रयानीके व्यपोथयत् । तब सात्यकिने युद्धमें बाण-वर्षा करते हुए आक्रमण करनेवाले पाँच सौ प्रमुख योद्धाओंको सेनाके मुहानेपर मार गिराया ।। १४ $ ।। तेडपतन् निहतास्तूर्ण शिनिप्रवरसायकै:
yodhān pañcaśatān mukhyān agrayānīke vyapothayat | tataḥ sātyakine yuddhe bāṇa-varṣāṃ kurvataḥ ākramaṇakārinaḥ pañcaśatān pramukhān yodhān senā-mukhena mārayām āsa || te patan nihatās tūrṇaṃ śini-pravara-sāyakaiḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—अग्रयानीके मुखे स पञ्चशतान् मुख्यान् योधान् व्यपोथयत्; ततः स सात्यकिः शरवर्षं मुञ्चन् युधि प्रावर्तत, तं प्रति पतितान् पञ्चशतान् शिनिप्रवरसायकैस्तूर्णं निहतान् पपातुः।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds kṣatriya-dharma in its starkest form: disciplined martial action at the battle-front, where prowess and resolve decide outcomes. Ethically, it highlights the gravity of war—heroic skill is praised, yet the narrative also underscores the swift, mass loss of life that follows from aggressive assault.
Sañjaya reports that Sātyaki, advancing at the head of the formation and releasing a dense shower of arrows, cuts down five hundred prominent warriors who rush to attack him. The attackers fall quickly, struck by Sātyaki’s missiles.