Shloka 41
अध्याय ५३ — रणमेघोपमा सेना-वर्णना तथा सुषेण-वधोत्तर प्रतिक्रिया
Battle-as-Storm Imagery and the Aftermath of Suṣeṇa’s Fall
(कृतवर्मा तु संक्रुद्धों दिधक्षुरिव पावक: । धृष्टद्युम्नमुखान् सर्वान् पाण्डवान् पर्यवारयत् ।।
sañjaya uvāca |
kṛtavarmā tu saṅkruddho didhakṣur iva pāvakaḥ |
dhṛṣṭadyumnamukhān sarvān pāṇḍavān paryavārayat ||
tato rājan maheṣvāsaṃ kṛtavarmāṇam āśu vai |
gadāṃ gṛhya punar vegāt dhṛṣṭadyumno 'hanat ||
so 'tividdho balavatā nyapatan mūrcchayā hataḥ |
śrutarmā ratham āropya 'povāha raṇājirāt ||
dhṛṣṭadyumnas tu balavān jitvā śatruṃ mahābalam |
kauravān samare tūṛṇaṃ vārayām āsa sāyakaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Kṛtavarmā, inflamed with anger like a fire eager to burn, pressed in and checked all the Pāṇḍavas led by Dhṛṣṭadyumna. Then, O King, Dhṛṣṭadyumna swiftly seized his mace and, with renewed speed, struck the great bowman Kṛtavarmā. Wounded grievously by that powerful blow, Kṛtavarmā fell, overcome by pain and faintness; Śrutarmā lifted him onto his chariot and carried him away from the battlefield. Dhṛṣṭadyumna, strong and resolute, having subdued that mighty foe, immediately held back the Kauravas in the fight by a shower of arrows—showing how, in war, fierce wrath meets firm resistance, and victory is secured not by cruelty alone but by steadiness and timely protection of one’s own.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights a battlefield ethic: uncontrolled anger (likened to fire) can drive one into peril, while disciplined strength and timely action—striking decisively and then protecting one’s side by holding the enemy at bay—serve one’s duty (kṣatriya-dharma) more effectively than rage alone.
Kṛtavarmā, furious, blocks the Pāṇḍavas. Dhṛṣṭadyumna counters by striking him hard with a mace, causing Kṛtavarmā to collapse in a faint. Śrutarmā removes the wounded Kṛtavarmā from the battlefield, and Dhṛṣṭadyumna then restrains the advancing Kauravas with volleys of arrows.