Shloka 41
सैन्धवविक्रमवर्णनम् / Description of Jayadratha’s Martial Display
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत द्रोणपर्वके अन्तर्गत अभिगनन््युवधपर्वमें आभिमन्युका पराक्रमविषयक इकतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,अभ्यद्रवन् परीप्सन्तो व्यूढानीका: प्रहारिण: । संजयने कहा--राजन! युधिष्ठिर, भीमसेन, शिखण्डी, सात्यकि, नकुल-सहदेव, धष्टद्युम्न, विराट, द्रपद, केकय-राजकुमार, रोषमें भरा हुआ धृष्टकेतु तथा मत्स्यदेशीय योद्धा --ये सब-के-सब युद्धस्थलमें आगे बढ़े। अभिमन्युके ताऊ, चाचा तथा मामागण अपनी सेनाको व्यूहद्वारा संगठित करके प्रहार करनेके लिये उद्यत हो अभिमन्युकी रक्षाके लिये उसीके बनाये हुए मार्गसे व्यूहमें जानेके उद्देश्यसे एक साथ दौड़ पड़े
sañjaya uvāca—rājan! yudhiṣṭhira-bhīmasena-śikhaṇḍī-sātyaki-nakula-sahadeva-dhṛṣṭadyumna-virāṭa-drupada-kekaya-rājakumāra-roṣeṇa pūrṇaḥ dhṛṣṭaketuḥ tathā matsyadeśīyā yodhāś ca—ete sarve yuddhasthale ’bhyadravan. abhimanyos tu tātāś ca kākāś ca māmāgaṇaś ca svāṃ senāṃ vyūhena saṅghaṭya prahartuṃ kṛtodyamāḥ, abhimanyor rakṣārthaṃ tenaiva kṛtena mārgeṇa vyūhaṃ praviṣṭum ekataḥ sahasābhyadravan, parīpsantaḥ.
Sañjaya said: O King, Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīmasena, Śikhaṇḍī, Sātyaki, Nakula and Sahadeva, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Virāṭa, Drupada, the princes of Kekaya, the wrath-filled Dhṛṣṭaketu, and the warriors of the Matsya land—all of them surged forward on the battlefield. Abhimanyu’s elders—his paternal uncles, other uncles, and maternal uncles—having arrayed their forces in a battle-formation and ready to strike, rushed together, seeking to enter the formation by the very path Abhimanyu had made, in order to protect him. The passage highlights the ethical tension of war: disciplined strategy and lethal intent are set alongside kinship-duty and the impulse to rescue one’s own amid a ruthless tactical trap.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid a war governed by strategy and violence, dharma expresses itself as responsibility toward one’s own—leaders and kinsmen feel compelled to protect a vulnerable warrior. The verse juxtaposes tactical intent (to strike, to enter a formation) with moral obligation (rakṣā—protection), showing how duty and compassion operate under extreme conditions.
Sañjaya reports that major Pāṇḍava-aligned heroes and allied kings charge forward. Abhimanyu’s relatives and elders rapidly organize their troops into a formation and rush to enter the enemy array by the route Abhimanyu created, aiming to reach and protect him inside the formation.