Shloka 15
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
समीक्ष्य संख्येडतिबलान् नराधिपान् ससूतमातड्रथान् परैहतान् | कथं न सर्वानहितान् रणेडवधीद् महास्त्रविद् ब्राह्मणपुड्वो गुरु:
samīkṣya saṅkhyed atibalān narādhipān sasūtamātad-rathān paraihatān | kathaṁ na sarvān ahitān raṇe ’vadhīd mahāstravid brāhmaṇa-pūjyo guruḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Wenn man jene überaus mächtigen Könige—mitsamt ihren Wagenlenkern und Wagen—vom Feind niedergestreckt sieht, fragt man sich: Wie konnte jener Meister der großen Waffen, der ehrwürdige Lehrer, den selbst Brahmanen verehren, nicht alle feindseligen Gegner in der Schlacht erschlagen?“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between capability and restraint: even a supremely skilled and socially revered teacher may not (or cannot) annihilate all opponents. It invites reflection on dharma in war—limits, obligations, and the moral weight borne by leaders and preceptors amid mass destruction.
Sañjaya reports the battlefield scene: many powerful kings, along with their charioteers and chariots, have been felled by the enemy. He then poses a pointed question about the revered martial preceptor—why, despite his mastery of great weapons, he did not kill all hostile forces in the fight.