Shloka 42
Chapter 30: Formation Disruption, Competing War-Cries, and Nīla’s Fall
Droṇa-parva
पिता सुतं त्यजति सुहृद्वरं सुहृत् तथैव पुत्र: पितरं शरातुर: । स्वरक्षणे कृतमतयस्तदा जना- स्त्यजन्ति वाहानपि पार्थपीडिता:,वहाँ पिता पुत्रको त्याग देता था, सुहृद् अपने श्रेष्ठ सुहृदको छोड़ देता था तथा पुत्र बाणोंके आघातसे आतुर होकर अपने पिताको भी छोड़कर चल देता था। उस समय अर्जुनके बाणोंसे पीड़ित हुए सब लोग अपने-अपने प्राण बचानेकी ओर ध्यान देकर सवारियोंको भी छोड़कर भाग जाते थे
pitā sutaṃ tyajati suhṛdvaraṃ suhṛt tathaiva putraḥ pitaraṃ śarāturaḥ | svarakṣaṇe kṛtamatayas tadā janās tyajanti vāhān api pārthapīḍitāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In that turmoil, a father abandoned his son, and a friend forsook even his best friend; likewise a son, distressed by the sting of arrows, left even his father behind. Struck and tormented by Pārtha’s shafts, people fixed their minds only on saving their own lives and fled, even abandoning their mounts and vehicles.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme fear and the instinct for self-preservation can shatter even the strongest human bonds—parent-child and close friendship—revealing the moral and psychological cost of war.
Sañjaya describes the chaos caused by Arjuna’s arrows: warriors, overwhelmed and wounded, flee in panic, abandoning relatives, friends, and even their mounts/vehicles to save their own lives.