Shloka 3636
अभिमन्युवधः
Abhimanyu’s Fall and the Battlefield Aftermath
विव्यधुस्तं महेष्वासं समरे छिद्रदर्शिन: । समरांगणमें छिद्र देखनेवाले योद्धा 'जान पड़ता है यह मेरे ही ऊपर तलवार लिये टूटा पड़ता है” इस आशंकासे ऊपरकी ओर दृष्टि करके महाधनुर्धर अभिमन्युको बींधने लगे
vivyadhus taṁ maheṣvāsaṁ samare chidradarśinaḥ |
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, those warriors skilled at spotting openings struck and pierced that mighty archer. Suspecting, “He seems to be rushing at me with sword raised,” they looked upward in alarm and began to wound the great bowman Abhimanyu—an image of how, in war, fear and opportunism drive men to exploit even a momentary vulnerability rather than uphold fair combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral tension in warfare: instead of honoring fair combat, fighters who 'see openings' exploit fear and momentary vulnerability. It implicitly critiques opportunistic violence that departs from kṣatriya ideals of straightforward, honorable battle.
Sañjaya narrates that, amid the fight, warriors watching for a gap pierce a great archer—identified in the contextual prose as Abhimanyu—after suspecting he is charging at them with sword raised; they look upward and then strike him.