Санджая
ततः शरैर् हेमपुङ्खैः सगदं रथिनां वरम् ॥
छादयाम् आस समरे मेघः सूर्यम् इवोदितम् ॥
ततो ऽपरैः शरैश् चापि गदां तस्य महात्मनः ॥
अचूर्णयत् तदा पार्थस् तद् अद्भुतम् इवाभवत् ॥
अथ तां पतितां दृष्ट्वा गृह्यान्यां महतीं गदाम् ॥
अर्जुनं वासुदेवं च पुनः पुनर् अताडयत् ॥
tataḥ śarair hemapuṅkhaiḥ sagadaṃ rathināṃ varam ||
chādayām āsa samare meghaḥ sūryam ivoditam ||
tato 'paraiḥ śaraiś cāpi gadāṃ tasya mahātmanaḥ ||
acūrṇayat tadā pārthas tad adbhutam ivābhavat ||
atha tāṃ patitāṃ dṛṣṭvā gṛhyānyāṃ mahatīṃ gadām ||
arjunaṃ vāsudevaṃ ca punaḥ punar atāḍayat ||
Then with gold-feathered arrows he covered the best of charioteers, mace and all, in battle, as a cloud covers the risen sun. Then with yet other arrows Partha shattered the mace of that great-souled one -- it was as if a wonder. Then, seeing it fallen, taking up another great mace, Ambashtha struck Arjuna and Vasudeva again and again.
6cef3f51112b · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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Ambashtha is valiant and unyielding: his mace is shattered, so he takes up another. The poem grants honor to the enemy's steadfastness. But his persistence serves untruth, and so is doomed. Telling is "tad adbhutam iva," "that was as if a wonder," said of Arjuna's skill in shattering the mace with arrows. The verse teaches that persistence is worthy only when it serves truth: Ambashtha's determination is admirable, yet it leads to ruin, for it is given to an unrighteous cause; and steadfastness not measured against dharma is mere obstinacy, drawing all the more surely toward destruction the firmer it holds.