Shloka 41
यदाभिमन्युर्निहतो धार्तराष्ट्रैर्दुरात्मभि: । नासीत् तत्र रणे कृष्ण सव्यसाची महारथ:,“श्रीकृष्ण! धृतराष्ट्रके दुरात्मा पुत्रोंने जब युद्धमें अभिमन्युकोी मारा था, उस समय महारथी अर्जुन वहाँ उपस्थित नहीं थे
yadābhimanyur nihato dhārtarāṣṭrair durātmabhiḥ | nāsīt tatra raṇe kṛṣṇa savyasācī mahārathaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O Kṛṣṇa, when Abhimanyu was slain in battle by the wicked sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the great chariot-warrior Arjuna, famed as Savyasācī, was not present there on that battlefield.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of wartime conduct: Abhimanyu’s death is framed as the act of ‘durātmans’ (wicked-minded), implying adharma, and it stresses how the absence of rightful protection (Arjuna) can enable injustice and intensify tragedy.
Sañjaya informs Kṛṣṇa that at the moment Abhimanyu was killed by the Kaurava side, Arjuna—the foremost Pāṇḍava archer—was not present on that part of the battlefield, setting context for how Abhimanyu became vulnerable.