Shloka 7
अभिमन्यु-परिवेष्टनम्
Encirclement and Counterassault of Abhimanyu
न ममैतद् द्विषत्सैन्यं कलामहति षोडशीम् | अपि विश्वजितं विष्णु मातुलं प्राप्प सूतज
na mamaitad dviṣatsainyaṃ kalāmahati ṣoḍaśīm | api viśvajitaṃ viṣṇu mātulaṃ prāppa sūtaja ||
Sañjaya said: “This hostile army is not even a sixteenth part of mine in strength. Yet, O son of a charioteer, Viṣṇu—my maternal uncle, the universal conqueror—has been drawn into this conflict.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral danger of overconfidence in war: numerical or perceived superiority (‘not even a sixteenth part’) does not guarantee outcomes, because unforeseen forces—destiny, superior prowess, or divinely-associated power—can overturn human calculations.
Sañjaya reports a speaker’s assessment of the opposing army as comparatively insignificant, while noting that a formidable figure described as ‘Viṣṇu, the universal conqueror’ and ‘my maternal uncle’ has nevertheless become involved/encountered—signaling a dramatic escalation and the speaker’s attempt to frame the conflict in terms of overwhelming personal advantage.