Shloka 131
युधिष्ठिरस्य कृष्णार्जुनादि-समाश्वासनम्
Yudhiṣṭhira’s reassurance and praise of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, Bhīma, and Sātyaki
ननु नाम त्वया वीर दीर्यमाणा भयार्दिता । स्वबाहुबलमास्थाय रक्षितव्या हनीकिनी
nanu nāma tvayā vīra dīryamāṇā bhayārditā | svabāhubalam āsthāya rakṣitavyā hanīkinī ||
Sañjaya said: “Surely, O hero, when your army was being torn apart and struck with fear, it ought to have been protected by you, relying on the strength of your own arms.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses kṣatriya-leadership as dharma: when one’s troops are endangered and fearful, a commander must not withdraw into self-preservation but must protect them through personal valor and steadfast responsibility.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events, delivers a pointed reminder to a warrior-leader that the army, shaken and being destroyed, should have been defended by him through his own martial strength—implying a lapse or insufficiency in protection at a critical moment.