Shloka 22

अभिमन्युना दुःशासनस्य ताडनम्

Abhimanyu’s Rebuke and Wounding of Duḥśāsana; Karṇa’s Counter-volley

Devanagari script

अहमेनं हनिष्यामि महाराज ब्रवीमि ते । मिषतां पाण्डुपुत्राणां पजचालानां च पश्यताम्‌,“महाराज! मैं आपसे (प्रतिज्ञापूर्वक) कहता हूँ। मैं पांचालों और पाण्डवोंके देखते- देखते इस अभिमन्युको मार डालूँगा

Transliteration

aham enaṁ haniṣyāmi mahārāja bravīmi te | miṣatāṁ pāṇḍuputrāṇāṁ pāñcālānāṁ ca paśyatām ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O King, I declare this to you as a firm resolve: I shall slay this Abhimanyu while the sons of Pāṇḍu and the Pāñcālas look on—before their very eyes.”

Word by Word

अहम्I

एनम्him (this person)

हनिष्यामिI will kill

महाराजO great king

ब्रवीमिI say / I declare

तेto you

मिषताम्while (they) are looking on / of those who are watching

पाण्डुपुत्राणाम्of the sons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)

पाञ्चालानाम्of the Pāñcālas

चand

पश्यताम्of those who are seeing / while they watch

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Abhimanyu

Pāṇḍavas (sons of Pāṇḍu)

Pāñcālas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how vows and public declarations in war can be driven by pride and the urge to humiliate the opponent, raising ethical tension between martial resolve and the moral cost of seeking victory through intimidation and spectacle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior has made a forceful pledge to kill Abhimanyu in full view of the Pāṇḍavas and the Pāñcālas, framing the act as both a battlefield objective and a public affront to the enemy.