Shloka 46
अभिमन्यु-परिवेष्टनम्
Encirclement and Counterassault of Abhimanyu
प्रातिष्ठन्त समुत्सृज्य त्वरयन्तो हयद्विपान्,वे जीवनकी इच्छा रखकर अपने-अपने सगे-सम्बन्धियोंके गोत्र और नामका उच्चारण करके एक-दूसरेके लिये क्रन्दन कर रहे थे। उस समय आपके सैनिक इतने डर गये थे कि वहाँ मारे गये अपने पुत्रों, पितृतुल्य सम्बन्धियों, भाई-बन्धुओं तथा नातेदारोंको भी छोड़कर अपने घोड़ों और हाथियोंको उतावलीके साथ हाँकते हुए रणभूमिसे पलायन कर गये
sañjaya uvāca | prātiṣṭhanta samutsṛjya tvarayanto hayadvipān | te jīvanakāmāḥ svān svān bandhuvargān gotranāmāni ca kīrtayantaḥ parasparaṃ krandamānā babhūvuḥ | tadā tava sainyāḥ bhayasaṃvignāḥ tatra nihataṃ putrān pitr̥tulyān bhrātṝn bāndhavān jñātīṃś ca parityajya hayān gajān ca tvarayanto raṇabhūmitaḥ palāyitāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Casting everything aside, they hurriedly drove their horses and elephants away. Clinging to the desire to live, they cried out to one another, calling aloud the clans and names of their own kinsmen. At that time your soldiers, shaken with fear, abandoned even their slain sons, father-like elders, brothers, friends, and other relatives lying there, and fled from the battlefield, urging their horses and elephants on in frantic haste.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, when fear overwhelms warriors, social and moral bonds collapse: even duties toward the dead and toward one’s own kin are abandoned. It implicitly warns that adharma-driven conflict culminates in panic, grief, and the loss of dignity on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava troops, terrified, are in full retreat. In their desperation to survive they cry out names and clan-identities of relatives, wailing to one another, and flee the field while driving off their horses and elephants, leaving behind the bodies of their own slain family members.