Sātyaki and Dhṛshṭadyumna Vivāda

On the fifteenth day of the Kurukshetra war, Dhṛshṭadyumna killed Droṇācārya. Soon after, a fierce quarrel broke out in the Pāṇḍava camp between Sātyaki and Dhṛshṭadyumna. Sātyaki said that killing an unarmed man seated in yoga was the worst adharma, a guru-hatyā (the killing of a teacher) that would ruin Dhṛshṭadyumna’s line for fourteen generations. Dhṛshṭadyumna answered by pointing to Sātyaki’s own killing of Bhūriśravas, who had sat down in a vow of fasting to death with one arm cut off. Sātyaki rushed at Dhṛshṭadyumna with his gadā. Bhīmasena and Sahadeva held him back.

Arjuna’s grief and Dhṛshṭadyumna’s defence

As soon as Droṇa’s head fell, Arjuna wept and said that the killing was adharma. He said: “We have killed a guru who cared for us like a father, for the sake of a kingdom that does not last. We have done the greatest pāpa (sin).” He mourned that their aged ācārya had been killed in this way. Droṇa was both a brāhmaṇa and a kshatriya, a master of weapons, and loyal to the family of Dhṛtarāshṭra.

The warriors who had gathered fell silent. For a moment no one could find a word in defence or in agreement. Bhīmasena spoke first, and he turned on Arjuna, not on Dhṛshṭadyumna: “You speak like a forest monk or a brāhmaṇa who keeps vows. But a kshatriya’s dharma is to protect his people. Have you forgotten that these enemies took our kingdom by trickery, shamed Draupadī in the open assembly, and sent us to the forest for thirteen years? We are fighting with every means we have. Do not shame us with this reproach at the moment of victory.”

Then Dhṛshṭadyumna defended himself directly: “What are the six dharmas of a brāhmaṇa? They are learning and teaching the Vedas, performing and helping others perform yajñas, giving gifts and receiving gifts. In which of these did Droṇa stand out? He left his brāhmaṇa dharma and took up the dharma of kshatriyas. He used the brahmāstra against warriors who did not know how to answer it, and he killed our men cruelly. A brāhmaṇa who acts with māyā (trickery) may be destroyed by māyā. As for me, I was born from Drupada’s fire yajña for this very purpose. Killing Droṇa was my dharma, my very reason for being. You killed Bhīshma, your own grandfather, and you called it dharma. Why is my act different?”

Sātyaki’s anger

Arjuna looked at Dhṛshṭadyumna with a pained, sideways glance and wept without a word. The other Pāṇḍavas, Yudhishṭhira, Bhīma, Nakula, Sahadeva and Kṛshṇa, stood in shamed silence. They spoke neither for nor against what had been done. Then Sātyaki burst out.

He called Dhṛshṭadyumna a naradhama (the lowest of men) and a pāpishṭha (a great sinner). He said: “The Pāṇḍavas, the Andhakas, the Vṛshṇis and the Yādavas are all disgusted with you because of this evil act. A man who commits brahma-hatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa) sends not only himself but seven generations before him and seven after him into naraka. Your tongue should have cracked into a hundred pieces when you spoke those proud words. Your head should have split.” He threatened Dhṛshṭadyumna with his gadā: “If you speak to me like this again, I will crush your head with this gadā.”

Dhṛshṭadyumna’s answer about Bhūriśravas

Dhṛshṭadyumna did not back down. He laughed and turned the quarrel back on Sātyaki: “And what of Bhūriśravas? He had sat down in a vow of fasting to death. He was akiñchana (without possessions), he had laid down his weapons, and he was in praṇidhāna (deep meditation). Arjuna’s arrow had already cut off one of his arms from behind, while Bhūriśravas was busy dragging you by the hair across the battlefield. Everyone forbade you. The Pāṇḍavas called out to you to stop. Even so, you got up, took hold of your sword, and cut off the head of Bhūriśravas while he sat still in that vow. What is a greater adharma than that? At least I killed Droṇa in the heat of battle. You killed a man in the last stage of his death-meditation, who had not even turned towards you.”

He went on: “Before you accuse others, look at yourself. The war has been full of adharma on both sides. Bhīshma was killed with Śikhaṇḍī placed in front of Arjuna as a shield, and that too was adharma. Abhimanyu was killed by seven warriors at once, and that was adharma. The final nature of dharma is subtle and cannot be known.”

dharmasya tattvaṃ nihitaṃ guhāyām

“The truth of dharma is hidden in a cave.” Dhṛshṭadyumna ended: “No one in this war is beyond blame. Stop lecturing me and go and fight.”

Sātyaki charges

These words took Sātyaki past the point of argument. He put his bow down on his chariot, took up his gadā, and ran on foot straight at Dhṛshṭadyumna. At Kṛshṇa’s command, Bhīmasena jumped down from his chariot at once and caught Sātyaki from behind. Bhīma was strong enough to stop the charge but could not hold Sātyaki completely. Sātyaki dragged Bhīma six steps forward, until Arjuna took a firm hold as well and the two of them stopped him.

Sahadeva then came up gently and spoke calming words to Sātyaki. He spoke of the bond of friendship and alliance between the Pāṇḍavas, the Yādavas and the Pāñchālas, and he urged Sātyaki to stand down for the good of their common cause.

Dhṛshṭadyumna, from where he stood, taunted him: “Let him go! Let Bhīmasena let him loose! Let him come. He will not find me like Bhūriśravas, sitting with one arm and putting up no fight. Let him come and fight.”

Sātyaki kept struggling in Bhīmasena’s grip. He hissed like a serpent and strained to break free. The episode ends with the two warriors still not at peace, held apart only by the hands of their allies. The wound of their accusations of adharma was not healed between them at that moment.

Dhṛtarāshṭra’s reaction

Dhṛtarāshṭra heard Sañjaya’s account and said of Dhṛshṭadyumna: “All the warriors who had gathered heard him speak against the ācārya, and not one of them showed anger. Shame on such kshatriyas! Shame on their pride and their amarsha (anger that cannot bear an insult)!”

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 197–198