Shloka 18
द्रोणाभिमुखानां निवारण-युद्धम् / Interceptions on the Droṇa-front
संजय! वह युद्ध जिस प्रकार हुआ था, सब साफ-साफ मुझसे बताओ। कौन-कौन वीर युद्ध करते थे, कौन किसको परास्त करते थे और कौन-कौन-से क्षुद्र सैनिक भयके कारण युद्धके मैदानसे भाग गये थे ।। धनंजयं च मे शंस यद् यच्चक्रे रथर्षभ: । तस्माद् भयं नो भूयिष्ठं भ्रातृव्याच्च वृकोदरात्,धनंजय अर्जुनके विषयमें भी मुझे बताओ। रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ अर्जुनने क्या-क्या किया था। मुझे उनसे तथा शत्रुस्वरूप भीमसेनसे अधिक भय लगता है
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | sañjaya! tad yuddhaṃ yathā vṛttaṃ sarvaṃ spaṣṭaṃ vada me | ke ke vīrā yuyudhire, kaḥ kaṃ parājayad, ke ca kṣudrāḥ sainikā bhayāt raṇabhūmim apāyan || dhanañjayaṃ ca me śaṃsa yad yat cakre ratharṣabhaḥ | tasmād bhayaṃ no bhūyiṣṭhaṃ bhrātṛvyāc ca vṛkodarāt ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, tell me clearly and in full how that battle unfolded. Which heroes fought, who overcame whom, and which petty soldiers—out of fear—fled the field. And also report to me about Dhanañjaya (Arjuna): what deeds the bull among charioteers performed. For it is from him, and from Vṛkodara (Bhīma)—who stands to us as an enemy kinsman—that our greatest fear arises.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how fear and attachment distort judgment: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s mind is fixed on outcomes and threats (especially Arjuna and Bhīma), revealing the ethical tension of a war among relatives where power, kinship, and anxiety collide.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra presses Sañjaya for a detailed, sequential report of the battle—who fought, who defeated whom, and who fled—then specifically asks for Arjuna’s actions, admitting that Arjuna and Bhīma are the chief sources of his side’s fear.