Shloka 37
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 49: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Strategic Foreboding after Abhimanyu’s Fall
युद्धे ह्ाशीविषाकारान् राजपुत्रान् रणे रिपून् | पूर्व निहत्य संग्रामे पश्चादार्जुनिर भ्ययात्,युद्धमें विषधर सर्पके समान भयंकर शत्रुरूप राजकुमारोंको पहले मारकर पीछेसे अर्जुनकुमार अभिमन्यु स्वर्गलोकमें गया था
sañjaya uvāca |
yuddhe hāśīviṣākārān rājaputrān raṇe ripūn |
pūrvaṁ nihatya saṅgrāme paścād arjunir abhyayāt ||
Sañjaya said: In the battle, after first slaying in the combat those enemy princes—terrible like venomous serpents—Arjunī (Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna) thereafter went to the heavenly world.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of kṣatriya-dharma: facing grave danger, protecting one’s side through valor, and accepting death as the consequence of righteous combat—framing Abhimanyu’s fall not as mere defeat but as a sacrificial, honor-bearing passage to heaven.
Sañjaya recounts that Abhimanyu, after killing many formidable enemy princes in the thick of battle, was ultimately slain and thus ‘departed’—described as going to the heavenly realm.