Shloka 40
धृष्टद्युम्नस्य द्रोणाभिमुख्यं तथा सात्यकि-कर्ण-समागमः
Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s advance toward Droṇa and the Sātyaki–Karṇa confrontation
मम सर्वेडपि राजानो जानन्त्येव महाव्रतम् । न शक्यो मामको हन्तुं यो मे स्थादू बाणगोचरे,“सब राजा मेरे इस महान् व्रतको जानते ही हैं कि जो कोई मेरा आत्मीयजन मेरे बाणोंकी पहुँचके भीतर होगा, वह किसी शत्रुके द्वारा मारा नहीं जा सकता
mama sarve 'pi rājāno jānanti eva mahāvratam | na śakyo māmako hantuṃ yo me sthād bāṇagocare ||
Sañjaya said: “All the kings already know my great vow: no enemy can slay any one of my own people, so long as he remains within the range of my arrows.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior-ethic of a solemn vow: protection is promised to one’s own side through personal prowess. It frames martial power as a moral commitment—so long as the protector’s effective agency (arrow-range) holds, allies are to be kept from harm.
Sañjaya reports a declaration of confidence and resolve on the battlefield: the speaker asserts that all kings know his ‘great vow’—that any of his own men who stay within his bowshot cannot be killed by enemies, because he will defend them.