Shloka 28
Abhimanyu-śravaṇa-prastāva and Cakravyūha-vinyāsa
Prelude to Abhimanyu’s Account and the Wheel-Formation Deployment
दावाग्न्यभिपरीतानां भूरिगुल्मतृणद्रुमे । वनौकसामिवारण्ये त्वदीयानामभूद् भयम्,जैसे प्रचुर लता-गुल्म, घास-पात और वृक्षोंसे भरे हुए वनमें दावानलसे घिरे हुए वनवासियोंको महान् भयका सामना करना पड़ता है, उसी प्रकार अभिमन्युसे आपके सैनिकोंको अत्यन्त भय प्राप्त हुआ था
sañjaya uvāca |
dāvāgny-abhiparītānāṁ bhūri-gulma-tṛṇa-drumaiḥ |
vanaukāsām ivāraṇye tvadīyānām abhūd bhayam ||
Sañjaya said: “Just as forest-dwellers, hemmed in by a raging wildfire in a wilderness thick with abundant shrubs, grasses, and trees, are seized by great terror, so too your warriors were overcome by intense fear because of Abhimanyu.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how moral and martial excellence can reshape the battlefield psychologically: a single righteous, formidable warrior can induce fear in a larger force, just as a wildfire overwhelms those trapped within a dense forest. It underscores the ethical weight of courage and the destabilizing power of adharma when confronted by steadfast valor.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Abhimanyu’s onslaught has terrified the Kaurava troops. He uses a vivid simile: like forest-dwellers surrounded by a wildfire in a thickly overgrown forest, the Kaurava soldiers felt intense fear when faced with Abhimanyu.