Shloka 56
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 96: Sātyaki’s Line-Penetration, Encirclement, and Advance toward Arjuna
दृष्टवा जेष्यथ वृत्र तं क्षिप्रं गच्छत मन्दरम् | यत्रास्ते तपसां योनिर्दक्षयज्ञविनाशन:
dṛṣṭvā jeṣyatha vṛtra taṃ kṣipraṃ gacchata mandaram | yatrāste tapasāṃ yonir dakṣayajñavināśanaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Having seen him, you will surely prevail over Vṛtra. Go quickly to Mandara, where dwells the primal source of ascetic power—the destroyer of Dakṣa’s sacrifice.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse invokes the idea that victory is strengthened by seeking the highest source of spiritual power (tapas) and aligning action with a greater, divinely grounded force—here signaled through the epithet of Śiva as the one who shattered Dakṣa’s sacrifice, a warning against hollow ritual and pride.
Sañjaya reports an urgent instruction: the addressees are told to go quickly to Mandara, where a mighty ascetic-divine figure (identified by the epithet ‘destroyer of Dakṣa’s sacrifice’) abides; seeing or approaching him is presented as a decisive factor for impending victory.