Shloka 39
अभिमन्यु–अलम्बुसयुद्धम् / The Duel of Abhimanyu and Alambusa
with Arjuna’s approach to Bhīṣma
अभ्यधावत तेजस्वी भारद्वाजात्मजस्त्वरन् । देखनेमें अत्यन्त भयंकर राक्षस घटोत्कचको धावा करते देख तेजस्वी अअश्वत्थामाने बड़ी उतावलीके साथ उसपर आक्रमण किया ।। ३८ ह ।। निजघान च संक्रुद्धो राक्षसान् भीमदर्शनान्
sañjaya uvāca | abhyadhāvat tejasvī bhāradvājātmajas tvaran | nijaghāna ca saṅkruddho rākṣasān bhīmadarśanān ||
Sañjaya said: The radiant son of Bhāradvāja (Aśvatthāman), hurrying forward, charged. Enraged, he struck down the fearsome-looking rākṣasas. In the brutal ethics of battlefield duty, his swift counterattack answered terror with force, seeking to check a destructive onslaught rather than yield to panic.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic where fearsome aggression is met with decisive action; courage and duty (dharma as understood in war) demand steadiness and response, though the text also implicitly warns how anger (saṅkruddha) drives violence and can cloud discernment.
Sañjaya narrates that Aśvatthāman, the son of Bhāradvāja, rushes forward and, in anger, strikes down terrifying rākṣasa fighters amid the ongoing combat.