Shloka 18
दृष्टवा द्रोणाय पाज्चाल्यं व्रजन्तं युद्धदुर्मदम् । यमाभ्यां तांश्व संसक्तांस्तदन्तरमुपाद्रवत्
dṛṣṭvā droṇāya pāñcālyaṃ vrajantaṃ yuddha-durmadam | yamābhyāṃ tāṃś ca saṃsaktāṃs tad-antaram upādravat ||
Sañjaya said: Seeing the Pāñcāla warrior rush toward Droṇa, drunk with the frenzy of battle, and noticing fighters locked in close combat between the twin Yamas, he swiftly charged into that gap. Thus, even beneath war’s moral weight, a tactical opening is seized in an instant, while warriors are driven on by wrath and martial pride.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war inflames the mind (yuddha-durmadam), and how, in such a morally fraught arena, warriors act with swift opportunism—charging into even a momentary opening. It implicitly cautions that battle-frenzy can eclipse restraint, making ethical clarity harder to maintain.
Sañjaya describes a Pāñcāla warrior rushing toward Droṇa in battle-fury. At the same time, fighters are tightly engaged between the twin warriors called the Yamau; seeing the gap created in that engagement, someone (the subject implied by upādravat) charges into that interval.