Shloka 24
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
न त्वेवाहं न गमिष्यामि मध्ये तेषां शूराणामिति मां शल्य विद्धि | मित्रद्रोहो मर्षणीयो न मे<5यं त्यक्त्वा प्राणाननुयास्यामि द्रोणम्,“शल्य! मैं उन शूरवीरोंके बीचमें नहीं जाऊँगा, ऐसा मुझे न समझो; क्योंकि संग्रामसे पीछे हटनेपर मित्रद्रोह होगा और यह मित्रद्रोह मेरे लिये असह्य है। इसलिये मैं प्राणोंका परित्याग करके द्रोणाचार्यका ही अनुसरण करूँगा
na tvevāhaṃ na gamiṣyāmi madhye teṣāṃ śūrāṇām iti māṃ śalya viddhi | mitradroho marṣaṇīyo na me ’yaṃ tyaktvā prāṇān anuyāsyāmi droṇam ||
قال سانجيا: «لا تظنّ، يا شاليا، أني لن أدخل إلى وسط أولئك الأبطال. إن التراجع عن القتال خيانةٌ للصديق، وتلك الخيانة لا أطيقها. لذلك، ولو كان الثمن حياتي، فسأتبع درونا.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames loyalty as a binding ethical duty: withdrawing from the fight would amount to mitradroha (betrayal of a friend/ally), which the speaker declares unbearable. Honor is presented as weightier than personal survival, so he chooses to follow Droṇa even at the cost of life.
In the Karṇa Parva context, Sañjaya reports a warrior’s resolve addressed to Śalya: he rejects the idea that he will stay away from the press of heroes, insists that retreat would be disloyalty, and declares his intention to follow Droṇa, accepting death if necessary.