Shloka 49
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 96: Sātyaki’s Line-Penetration, Encirclement, and Advance toward Arjuna
गान्धारे युधि विक्रम्य निर्जिता: सुरसत्तमा: | पुरा वृत्रेण देत्येन भिन्नदेहा: सहस्रश:,गान्धारीनन्दन! प्राचीन कालकी बात है, वृत्रासुरने युद्धमें पराक्रमपूर्वक सहसों श्रेष्ठ देवताओंके शरीरको विदीर्ण करके उन्हें परास्त कर दिया था
gāndhāre yudhi vikramya nirjitāḥ surasattamāḥ | purā vṛtreṇa detyena bhinnadehāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—गान्धार्याः सुत, युधि विक्रम्य पुरा सुरसत्तमाः निर्जिताः। दैत्येन वृत्रेण सहस्रशो देवानां शरीराणि विदार्य ते पराजिताः॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses an ancient mythic example to underline that even the mightiest can be overcome in war; power and victory are impermanent, and arrogance is cautioned against. It frames battlefield outcomes as subject to extraordinary valor and fate rather than status alone.
Sañjaya addresses Dhṛtarāṣṭra (as ‘son of Gāndhārī’) and recalls a past event: Vṛtra, a daitya, once defeated thousands of the foremost devas, splitting their bodies in battle—an illustrative comparison to intensify the current war narrative.