Shloka 41
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय 54: फल्गुन-प्रतिरोधः, सौबली-व्यूह-विध्वंसः, दुर्योधन-भीष्म-संवादः
त॑ यथावत् प्रतिव्यूह परानीकविनाशनम् | अदृष्टपूर्व राजान: पश्यन्तु कुरुभि: सह
taṁ yathāvat prativyūha parānīka-vināśanam | adṛṣṭapūrvaṁ rājānaḥ paśyantu kurubhiḥ saha ||
Sañjaya said: “Arrange that counter-formation exactly as it should be—one that can destroy the enemy’s divisions—so that today the kings, together with the Kurus, may behold with their own eyes this unprecedented battle-array.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined execution of strategy and leadership responsibility in war: a commander must arrange formations correctly, not impulsively, and the wider assembly of rulers is made witness to the chosen course—underscoring accountability and the grave ethical weight of martial decisions.
Sañjaya reports an instruction to set up a precise counter-battle-array designed to break the enemy’s divisions, so that the assembled kings allied with the Kurus can directly witness this unprecedented formation on the battlefield.