Mahabharata 7.39.24 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 39, Shloka 24
अभिमन्युना दुःशासनस्य ताडनम्
Abhimanyu’s Rebuke and Wounding of Duḥśāsana; Karṇa’s Counter-volley
श्रुत्वा कृष्णौ मया ग्रस्तं सौभद्रमतिमानिनौ । गमिष्यत: प्रेतलोक॑ जीवलोकान्न संशय:
śrutvā kṛṣṇau mayā grastaṃ saubhadram atimāninau | gamiṣyataḥ pretalokaṃ jīvalokān na saṃśayaḥ ||
সুভদ্ৰাৰ পুত্ৰ অভিমন্যুক মই কালকৱলিত কৰিলোঁ বুলি শুনিলে, পৰাক্ৰমগৰ্বে উদ্ধত সেই দুজন কৃষ্ণ—অৰ্জুন আৰু শ্ৰীকৃষ্ণ—নিঃসন্দেহে জীৱলোক ত্যাগ কৰি প্ৰেতলোকলৈ গমন কৰিব; ইয়াত সন্দেহ নাই।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral danger of boastful certainty in war: claiming mastery over death and predicting the collapse of great heroes reflects pride and delusion. It also underscores how grief and righteous anger can drive even the mightiest to risk their lives, reminding readers that human resolve is tested most sharply by loss.
Sañjaya reports a taunting assertion (from the opposing side’s perspective) that Abhimanyu, Subhadrā’s son, has been killed, and that upon hearing this, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna will be so overwhelmed—by grief and fury—that they will rush into deadly combat, as if leaving the world of the living for the realm of the dead.
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