Shloka 58
अध्याय ८० — मध्यंदिन-रणवृत्तान्तः
Yudhiṣṭhira–Śrutāyu encounter; Cekitāna–Gautama clash; Abhimanyu pressure; Arjuna’s redeployment
केकया द्रौपदेयाश्न धृष्टकेतुश्न वीर्यवान् | अभिमन्युं पुरस्कृत्य महत्या सेनयावृता:,अभिमन्युको आगे करके विशाल सेनासे घिरे हुए पाँच केकयराजकुमार, द्रौपदीके पाँचों पुत्र और पराक्रमी धृष्टकेतु--ये शत्रुओंका दमन करनेवाले शूरवीर सूचीमुख नामक समरव्यूह बनाकर आपके पुत्रोंकी उस सेनाको रणक्षेत्रमें विदीर्ण करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | kekayā draupadeyāś ca dhṛṣṭaketuś ca vīryavān | abhimanyum puraskṛtya mahatyā senayāvṛtāḥ |
Sañjaya said: The princes of Kekaya, the five sons of Draupadī, and the mighty Dhṛṣṭaketu—placing Abhimanyu at their head and surrounded by a great host—formed the battle-array called Sūcīmukha (“needle-point”) and began to pierce and split apart your sons’ army on the field.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even within the harsh necessity of war, effectiveness depends on disciplined coordination, clear leadership, and purposeful action. The verse also implicitly underscores the ethical weight of conflict: valor and strategy are powerful, but they unfold within a tragic struggle among kin, where dharma is tested by circumstance.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Abhimanyu is placed at the forefront by allied warriors—the Kekaya princes, the Draupadeyas, and Dhṛṣṭaketu. Together they arrange themselves in the Sūcīmukha (“needle-point”) formation and begin to break into and split the Kaurava forces on the battlefield.