Shloka 331
भीष्मरक्षण-प्रकरणम् / The Protective Screen around Bhīṣma and the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Clash
दुःशासन रथास्तूर्ण युज्यन्तां भीष्मरक्षिण: । द्वाविंशतिमनीकानि सर्वाण्येवाभिचोदय
sañjaya uvāca | duḥśāsana rathās tūrṇaṁ yujyantāṁ bhīṣmarakṣiṇaḥ | dvāviṁśatim anīkāni sarvāṇy evābhicodaya ||
Sañjaya said: “Let Duḥśāsana’s chariots be yoked at once, under Bhīṣma’s protection. Rouse and set in motion all the twenty-two divisions of the army.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war accelerates through urgent commands and dependence on powerful protectors; ethically, it underscores the epic’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty to fight and the peril of being driven by haste, incitement, and attachment to victory.
Sañjaya reports a Kaurava order: Duḥśāsana’s chariots are to be readied immediately under Bhīṣma’s protection, and all twenty-two troop-divisions are to be stirred up and deployed for battle.