Shloka 25
Pāṇḍya-vadha-anantaram Arjunasya Pravṛttiḥ
Arjuna’s Response and the Renewed Battle
प्रतीपकारिणि रणाददश्चत्थाम्नि हते हयै: । मन्त्रौषधिक्रियायोगैर््याधौ देहादिवाहते
sañjaya uvāca | pratīpakāriṇi raṇād apāścatthāmni hate hayaiḥ | mantrauṣadhi-kriyā-yogair vyādhau dehād ivāhate ||
Sañjaya said: When the hostile Aśvatthāman had been driven back from the battlefield and his horses were struck down, it was like a disease being expelled from the body through mantra, medicine, therapeutic treatment, and yogic discipline. Then Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, mounted on their chariot whose banners streamed in the wind and whose roar was deep like a rushing current, again advanced toward the Saṁsaptakas.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a healing simile to frame the removal of a hostile force as the restoration of balance: just as disciplined remedies (mantra, medicine, therapy, yoga) expel disease from the body, so the battlefield is ‘cleansed’ when a disruptive aggressor is driven away. Ethically, it suggests that rightful action in war aims at restoring order (dharma) rather than mere destruction.
Aśvatthāman, acting as an opponent, is forced back from the fight and his horses are struck down. After this setback, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, on their bannered and thunderous chariot, turn again and advance toward the Saṁsaptakas, the vowed warriors who repeatedly challenge Arjuna.