Shloka 2
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 155 — Ghaṭotkaca-nidhana-śoka and Karṇa-śakti-vyaya
Kṛṣṇa’s strategic reassurance
पज्चाला: कुरवश्चैव योधयन्त: परस्परम् । यमराष्ट्राय महते परलोकाय दीक्षिता:,पांचाल और कौरव योद्धा महान् यमराज्य एवं परलोककी दीक्षा लेकर परस्पर युद्ध करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | pāñcālāḥ kuravaś caiva yodhayantaḥ parasparam | yamarāṣṭrāya mahate paralokāya dīkṣitāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The Pāñcālas and the Kurus, fighting one another, entered battle as if consecrated for the great realm of Yama and for the world beyond—men who had accepted death as imminent and pressed on in mutual slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battle as a grim rite: warriors act as though already consecrated to death and the afterlife. It highlights the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension—kṣatriya duty drives combat, yet the narrative underscores the inevitability of death and the heavy moral cost of mutual violence.
Sañjaya reports that the Pāñcāla and Kuru forces have closed in and are fighting each other directly. The description intensifies the scene by portraying them as men who have accepted that the battlefield leads to Yama’s realm and the next world.