Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 35
अध्याय ३: कृपस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति नीत्युपदेशः
Kṛpa’s Counsel to Duryodhana
विप्रहीनरथाश्वाश्ष शरैश्व॒ परिवारिता: । पज्चविंशतिसाहस्रा: पार्थमार्च्डनू पदातय:,तब रथों और घोड़ोंसे रहित तथा बाणोंसे आच्छादित हुए पचीस हजार पैदल योद्धाओंने कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनपर चढ़ाई की
viprahīna-rathāśvāś ca śaraiś ca parivāritāḥ | pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrāḥ pārtham arjunaṃ padātayaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Deprived of chariots and horses, and hemmed in on all sides by showers of arrows, twenty-five thousand infantry nevertheless advanced against Pārtha Arjuna—an image of the war’s grim compulsion, where massed foot-soldiers are driven into peril even when the means of protection and mobility are lost.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the harsh reality of dharma in war: once battle is joined, large bodies of soldiers may be compelled to press forward even when their tactical supports (chariots, horses) are gone, revealing both the cost of conflict and the relentless momentum of the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports that a force of twenty-five thousand infantry, lacking chariots and horses and under a rain of arrows, still advances to attack Arjuna (Pārtha) in the Shalya Parva battle sequence.
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