Shloka 17
Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)
“आज राजा धूृतराष्ट्र अपने पुत्रको मारा गया सुनकर व्याकुल हो पृथ्वीपर पछाड़ खाकर गिरें और दु:ख भोगें ।। अद्य जानातु कौन्तेयं समर्थ सर्वधन्विनाम् । अद्यात्मानं च दुर्मेधा ग्हयिष्यति पापकृत्
adya jānātu kaunteyaṁ samarthaṁ sarva-dhanvinām | adyātmānaṁ ca durmedhā grahīṣyati pāpakṛt ||
三阇耶说道：“今日，当使昆蒂之子知晓：在一切弓手之中，谁最为强大。今日，那作恶而心智乖僻之人，必被迫直面自身真正的分量。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield prowess as inseparable from moral consequence: the wrongdoer (pāpakṛt) is driven to self-recognition (ātmānam grahīṣyati), implying that arrogance and adharma culminate in an unavoidable reckoning.
Sañjaya, narrating the war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, declares that “today” Kaunteya (Arjuna) will recognize the foremost power among archers, and that the culpable, misguided opponent will be compelled to face his true standing—signaling an imminent decisive encounter or demonstration of superior martial skill.