Shloka 22
Abhimanyu-śravaṇa-prastāva and Cakravyūha-vinyāsa
Prelude to Abhimanyu’s Account and the Wheel-Formation Deployment
धृतराष्ट उवाच पुत्रं पुरुषसिंहस्य संजयाप्राप्तयौवनम् । रणे विनिहतं श्रुत्वा भृशं मे दीर्यते मन:,धृतराष्ट्र बोले--संजय! पुरुषसिंह अर्जुनका वह पुत्र अभी युवावस्थामें भी नहीं पहुँचा था। उसे युद्धमें मारा गया सुनकर मेरा हृदय अत्यन्त विदीर्ण हो रहा है
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca — putraṁ puruṣasiṁhasya saṁjayāprāptayauvanam | raṇe vinihataṁ śrutvā bhṛśaṁ me dīryate manaḥ ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “O Sañjaya, hearing that the son of the lion among men (Arjuna)—still not yet come to full youth—has been slain in battle, my heart is being torn apart exceedingly.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the human cost of war: even a king aligned with adharma can feel piercing sorrow when confronted with the death of the young. It implicitly raises the ethical tension between kṣatriya warfare and the tragedy of violating the spirit of fair combat, since the slain youth is remembered as not yet fully grown.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts to Sañjaya’s report that Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu—described as not yet having reached full youth—has been killed in the battle. Overwhelmed, he confesses that his heart/mind is being torn apart by grief.