Shloka 53
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
तदा मूढो धृतराष्ट्रस्य पुत्र- स्तप्ता युद्धे दुर्मतिर्दु:सहाय: । दृष्टवा सैन्यं बाणवर्षान्धकारे प्रभज्यन्तं गोकुलवद् रणाग्रे
tadā mūḍho dhṛtarāṣṭrasya putras taptā yuddhe durmatir duḥsahāyaḥ | dṛṣṭvā sainyaṃ bāṇavarṣāndhakāre prabhajyantaṃ gokulavad raṇāgre ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Dann wird der verblendete Sohn Dhṛtarāṣṭras—böswillig und von grausamen Verbündeten gestützt—in der Schlacht gequält werden. Denn wenn er den wilden Klang des Gāṇḍīva hört und sein Heer sieht, wie es in der Finsternis, die der Pfeilsturm an der Front des Schlachtfeldes webt, zerbricht und nach allen Seiten flieht wie eine Rinderherde, dann wird ihn die Angst und Reue im Herzen packen.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unrighteous intent (durmati) sustained by harmful counsel (duḥsahāya) leads to inner torment when reality tests it; moral failure erodes courage and cohesion, while disciplined valor exposes the fragility of adharma.
Sañjaya describes how Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son will be distressed upon witnessing his forces scatter at the battlefront amid the ‘darkness’ of an intense arrow-shower, likened to cattle fleeing in panic—an image of collapsing morale before Arjuna’s martial prowess symbolized by the Gāṇḍīva.