Shloka 20
Droṇa’s Rebuke to Duryodhana after Jayadratha’s Fall (द्रोणेन दुर्योधनं प्रति प्रत्युक्तिः)
आजलसघ्नु: कौरवान् संख्ये त्यक्त्वासूनात्मन: प्रियान् राजन! भीमसेन तथा धृष्टद्युम्नके द्वारा इस प्रकार प्रेरित हुए पाण्डव-सैनिकोंने अपने प्यारे प्राणोंका मोह छोड़कर युद्धस्थलमें कौरवयोद्धाओंका संहार आरम्भ कर दिया ।। १९ न ! इच्छन्तो निधन युद्धे शस्त्रैरुत्तमतेजस:
sañjaya uvāca | ājalasa-ghnuḥ kauravān saṅkhye tyaktvāsūn ātmanaḥ priyān rājan | bhīmasena tathā dhṛṣṭadyumnakena caivaṃ preritāḥ pāṇḍava-sainikāḥ prāṇa-mohaṃ parityajya yuddha-sthale kaurava-yodhānāṃ saṃhāram ārabhanta || na icchanto nidhanaṃ yuddhe śastrair uttama-tejasaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, urged on in this manner by Bhīmasena and Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the Pāṇḍava troops cast aside attachment even to their own dear lives and, on the battlefield, began the slaughter of the Kaurava warriors. Though they did not desire death in war, the clash of weapons and the blaze of heroic energy drove them into relentless combat.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethic of acting decisively in a righteous cause while relinquishing personal attachment—especially fear and clinging to life—yet it also acknowledges the human truth that no one naturally desires death; duty and collective resolve can override personal hesitation.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, stirred by the exhortations of Bhīma and Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the Pāṇḍava troops enter the fray with renewed ferocity, abandoning attachment to their own lives and beginning a forceful assault that results in heavy Kaurava losses.