Shloka 39
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
विरथो वध्यमानस्तु सौभद्रेण यशस्विना । अवल्लुत्य रथात् तूर्णमम्बष्ठो वसुधाधिप:
sañjaya uvāca | viratho vadhyamānas tu saubhadreṇa yaśasvinā | avallutya rathāt tūṛṇam ambaṣṭho vasudhādhipaḥ | yaśasvī subhadrākumāra abhimanyunā pīḍita evaṃ rathahīnaḥ san rājā ambaṣṭhaḥ sva-rathāt kūdya mahāmanā subhadrākumāram prati raṇakṣetre asiṃ prāharat | tataḥ sa mahābalī nareśaḥ kṛtavarmāṇaḥ rathaṃ gatvā tasmin upāviśat |
قال سانجيا: لما أصاب ابن سوبهادرا المجيد (أبهيمانيو) الملكَ أمبَشْثَه وأوقعه بلا عربة، قفز الملك سريعاً من عربته. وعلى الرغم من شدة الضغط عليه وكونه بلا عربة، فإنه—بعزيمةٍ رفيعة في القتال—هوى بسيفه على أبهيمانيو في ساحة الوغى. ثم مضى ذلك الملك الجبار إلى عربة كريتَفارما وجلس عليها.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when deprived of advantage (a chariot), a kṣatriya is expected to maintain resolve and continue the fight; yet the episode also highlights the pragmatic ethics of war—survival and regrouping (mounting another chariot) are part of battlefield duty.
Abhimanyu disables and pressures King Ambaṣṭha, leaving him chariotless. Ambaṣṭha jumps down, attacks Abhimanyu with a sword on foot, and then withdraws to mount Kṛtavarmā’s chariot to continue the battle.