Shloka 42
द्रोण–सात्यकि-युद्धम्
Droṇa–Sātyaki Engagement
गाहमानमनीकानि मातड़्मिव यूथपम् | महेष्वासं पराक्रान्तं नरव्याप्रमवारयन्,अर्जुन पुत्रशोकसे संतप्त एवं कुपित हुए प्राणान्तक मृत्युके समान प्रतीत होते थे। वे उस भयंकर युद्धमें अपने प्राणोंको निछावर करनेके लिये उद्यत, कवच आदिसे सुसज्जित और विचित्र रीतिसे युद्ध करनेवाले थे। जैसे यूथयति गजराज गजसमूहमें प्रवेश करता है, उसी प्रकार आपकी सेनाओंमें घुसते हुए महाधनुर्धर परम पराक्रमी उन नरश्रेष्ठ अर्जुनको पूर्वोक्त योद्धाओंने आकर रोका
gāhamānam anīkāni mātangam iva yūthapam | maheṣvāsaṁ parākrāntaṁ naravyāghram avārayan ||
Sañjaya said: As he plunged into the battle-formations—like a mighty elephant entering the herd—those warriors came forward and checked that great archer, the valiant tiger among men.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how overwhelming personal resolve—often intensified by grief and anger in war—can appear unstoppable, yet dharma in a battlefield context also includes organized restraint and collective responsibility: armies respond to a single destructive force by attempting to contain it.
Arjuna, described as a mighty archer and ‘tiger among men,’ drives into the opposing battle arrays like an elephant entering a herd. Seeing his advance, the opposing warriors converge and block him, trying to halt his momentum.