दुःशासनस् त्व् अवस्थाप्य स्वम् अनीकम् अमर्षणः ॥
सात्यकिं प्रययौ क्रुद्धः शूरो रथवरं युधि ॥
स्वकेनाहम् अनीकेन संनद्धकवचावृतः ॥
चतुःशतैर् महेष्वासैश् चेकितानम् अवारयम् ॥
शकुनिस् तु सहानीको माद्रीपुत्रम् अवारयत् ॥
गान्धारकैः सप्तशतैश् चापशक्तिशरासिभिः ॥
duḥśāsanas tv avasthāpya svam anīkam amarṣaṇaḥ ||
sātyakiṃ prayayau kruddhaḥ śūro rathavaraṃ yudhi ||
svakenāham anīkena saṃnaddhakavacāvṛtaḥ ||
catuḥśatair maheṣvāsaiś cekitānam avārayam ||
śakunis tu sahānīko mādrīputram avārayat ||
gāndhārakaiḥ saptaśataiś cāpaśaktiśarāsibhiḥ ||
Duhshasana, having stationed his own army, unrestrained and enraged, the hero, advanced against Satyaki, the foremost of chariot-fighters in battle. I, with my own army, clad in sturdy armor, with four hundred great archers, held back Chekitana. Shakuni, with his army, held back the son of Madri (Nakula or Sahadeva) with seven hundred Gandharas armed with bows, spears, arrows, and swords.
3b4d9500b04c · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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Here even Sanjaya himself appears among the combatants: "svakena aham anikena… cekitanam avarayam" — I, with my own army, held back Chekitana. The witness of the battle is also its fighter. It is telling that the narrator does not exempt himself from the common lot of war. The verse teaches that in days of universal strife no one remains a mere onlooker: even the storyteller, called to relate the battle, fights within it; the nation's calamity draws everyone in, leaving no bystanders where a whole people is perishing.