Shloka 25
Duryodhana’s Anxiety, Bhīṣma’s Reassurance, and Renewed Mobilization (दुर्योधनचिन्ता–भीष्मप्रत्याश्वासन–सेनानिर्गमनम्)
सत्यव्रतं च सप्तत्या विद्ध्वा शक्रसमो युधि । नृत्यन्निव रणे वीर आर्ति न: समजीजनत्
satyavrataṃ ca saptatyā viddhvā śakrasamo yudhi | nṛtyann iva raṇe vīra ārtim naḥ samajījanat ||
Sañjaya sprach: Nachdem der heldenhafte Abhimanyu Satyavrata mit siebzig Pfeilen durchbohrt hatte—Indra gleich im Kampf—bewegte er sich über das Schlachtfeld, als tanzte er, und durch seine Kraft bereitete er uns allen tiefes Leid.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the double-edged nature of martial excellence: extraordinary valor and skill (likened to Indra) can simultaneously become the direct cause of widespread anguish in war. It implicitly points to the ethical cost of battle—glory for the warrior, suffering for those who face him.
Sañjaya reports that Abhimanyu strikes the warrior Satyavrata with seventy arrows. Abhimanyu then ranges across the battlefield with such swift, confident movement that it appears like dancing, and his onslaught causes severe distress to the opposing side.