ताव् अदीर्घेण कालेन ब्रह्मलोकपुरस्कृतौ ॥
जिगीषन्तौ परं स्थानम् अन्योन्यम् अभिजघ्नतुः ॥
सात्यकिः सौमदत्तिश् च शरवृष्ट्या परस्परम् ॥
हृष्टवद् धार्तराष्ट्राणां पश्यताम् अभ्यवर्षताम् ॥
संप्रैक्षन्त जनास् तत्र युध्यमानौ युधां पती ॥
यूथपौ वाशिताहेतोः प्रयुद्धाव् इव कुञ्जरौ ॥
tāv adīrgheṇa kālena brahmalokapuraskṛtau ||
jigīṣantau paraṃ sthānam anyonyam abhijaghnatuḥ ||
sātyakiḥ saumadattiś ca śaravṛṣṭyā parasparam ||
hṛṣṭavad dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṃ paśyatām abhyavarṣatām ||
saṃpraikṣanta janās tatra yudhyamānau yudhāṃ patī ||
yūthapau vāśitāhetoḥ prayuddhāv iva kuñjarau ||
Those two, in a short while, with the world of Brahmā before them, striving to attain the highest abode, struck each other. Sātyaki and Saumadatti poured a shower of arrows upon each other, joyfully, while the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra watched. There the people watched the fighting lords of the host, like two chieftains, elephants locked in combat over a female elephant.
0f2cb366f467 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:25:13 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Both fight "with the world of Brahmā before them," striving toward the highest abode: the warrior sees in an honorable death on the field not an end but a gateway to what is higher. It is telling that they fight "joyfully" -- not malice but valor moves them in this moment. The verse teaches that for a warrior faithful to duty, death in honorable battle is not loss but ascent; and a struggle waged for the sake of the highest abode, rather than out of hatred, ennobles even mortal combat.