Shloka 7
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 45: Saubhadra–Lakṣmaṇa-saṃyoga and Kaurava Counter-Encirclement
ये केचन गतास्तस्य समीपमपलायिन: । न ते प्रतिन्यवर्तन्त समुद्रादिव सिन्धव:,युद्धसे न भागनेवाले जो कोई शूरवीर उस सयम अभिमन्युके पास गये, वे फिर नहीं लौटे। जैसे समुद्रमें मिली हुई नदियाँ फिर वहाँसे लौट नहीं पाती हैं
ye kecana gatās tasya samīpam apalāyinaḥ | na te pratinivartanta samudrād iva sindhavaḥ ||
Whatever valiant warriors went near him—men who did not flee from battle—none of them returned. Like rivers that have entered the ocean, they could not turn back again.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights irreversibility in the moral and practical realm of war: once one commits to a perilous confrontation driven by kṣatriya courage (non-retreat), the outcome may be final. The ocean–river simile conveys that certain actions, once entered, do not permit return—an ethical reminder about the weight of martial decisions.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the warriors who went close to Abhimanyu—without fleeing—did not come back. It portrays Abhimanyu’s deadly prowess at that moment in the battle, where approaching him meant being swallowed up like rivers merging into the sea.