Shloka 27

अभिमन्यु–अलम्बुसयुद्धम् / The Duel of Abhimanyu and Alambusa

with Arjuna’s approach to Bhīṣma

Devanagari script

सहिता: पाण्डवं सर्वे पीडयन्त: समन्तत: । त॑ दृष्टवा संशयं प्राप्त पीड्यमानं महारथम्‌

Transliteration

saṃhitāḥ pāṇḍavaṃ sarve pīḍayantaḥ samantataḥ | taṃ dṛṣṭvā saṃśayaṃ prāptaṃ pīḍyamānaṃ mahāratham ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Vereint bedrängten sie den Pāṇḍava (Bhīmasena) von allen Seiten. Als die Helden der Pāṇḍavas —wie Abhimanyu— sahen, dass jener große Wagenkämpfer hart gepresst wurde und sein Leben in gefährlicher Ungewissheit stand, warfen sie selbst die Bindung an das eigene Leben ab und eilten herbei, ihn zu schützen.

Word by Word

• {'saṃhitāḥ': 'united, joined together', 'sarve': 'all', 'pāṇḍavam': 'the Pāṇḍava (here, Bhīma/Bhīmasena)', 'pīḍayantaḥ': 'harassing, pressing, tormenting', 'samantataḥ': 'on all sides, from every direction', 'taṃ': 'him', 'dṛṣṭvā': 'having seen', 'saṃśayam': 'doubt, uncertainty

• critical peril', 'prāptam': 'having reached, fallen into', 'pīḍyamānam': 'being oppressed/pressed', 'mahāratham': 'a great chariot-warrior

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāṇḍavas
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• Abhimanyu

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma expressed as steadfast solidarity: when a foremost warrior is endangered, righteous duty calls comrades to protect him even at personal risk, placing loyalty and protection above attachment to one’s own life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīmasena is surrounded and heavily pressed from all sides. Seeing him in grave danger, the Pāṇḍava warriors—named in the prose context as Abhimanyu and others—rush forward to defend and rescue him.