अथ कोशाद् विनिष्कृष्य खड्गं भूरिश्रवा रणे ॥
मूर्धजेषु निजग्राह पदा चोरस्य् अताडयत् ॥
तथा तु परिकृष्यन्तं दृष्ट्वा सात्वतम् आहवे ॥
वासुदेवस् ततो राजन् भूयो ऽर्जुनम् अभाषत ॥
पश्य वृष्ण्यन्धकव्याघ्रं सौमदत्तिवशं गतम् ॥
तव शिष्यं महाबाहो धनुष्य् अनवरं त्वया ॥
असत्यो विक्रमः पार्थ यत्र भूरिश्रवा रणे ॥
विशेषयति वार्ष्णेयं सात्यकिं सत्यविक्रमम् ॥
atha kośād viniṣkṛṣya khaḍgaṃ bhūriśravā raṇe ||
mūrdhajeṣu nijagrāha padā corasy atāḍayat ||
tathā tu parikṛṣyantaṃ dṛṣṭvā sātvatam āhave ||
vāsudevas tato rājan bhūyo 'rjunam abhāṣata ||
paśya vṛṣṇyandhakavyāghraṃ saumadattivaśaṃ gatam ||
tava śiṣyaṃ mahābāho dhanuṣy anavaraṃ tvayā ||
asatyo vikramaḥ pārtha yatra bhūriśravā raṇe ||
viśeṣayati vārṣṇeyaṃ sātyakiṃ satyavikramam ||
Then, drawing a sword from its sheath, Bhurishravas in the battle seized him [Satyaki] by the hair and struck him in the chest with his foot. Seeing Satvata thus dragged about in the battle, Vasudeva then, O king, again spoke to Arjuna: "Look at the tiger of the Vrishnis and Andhakas, fallen under the power of Saumadatti, your pupil, O mighty-armed one, not inferior to you in archery. False is that valor, O Partha, in which Bhurishravas in battle overcomes the Varshneya Satyaki, truly valorous."
82274f79bf55 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:25:13 PM UTC
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A foot on the chest and a sword above the head -- Bhurishravas carries the humiliation to its limit, and Krishna urges Arjuna on. Telling is the word "asatyaḥ vikramaḥ" -- "false is that valor," where a chance exhaustion overpowers true strength: an advantage won over one worn out is not genuine victory. The verse teaches that to overcome the exhausted is not valor but its counterfeit; and to allow chance to bring down the truly strong would be to condone wrong under the guise of a fair fight.