Shloka 15
तेषां योधसहस््राणां तावकानां महामृथधे । नासीत्तत्र पुमान् कश्चिद् यो युद्धाय मनो दधे,आपके उन हजारों योद्धाओंमें वहाँ कोई भी ऐसा पुरुष नहीं था, जो अपने मनमें उस महासमरमें युद्धके लिये उत्साह रखता हो
teṣāṁ yodhasahasrāṇāṁ tāvakānāṁ mahāmṛdhe | nāsīt tatra pumān kaścid yo yuddhāya mano dadhe ||
Sañjaya said: Among those thousands of your warriors, in that great and dreadful battle, there was not a single man who set his mind firmly on fighting. The moment reveals a moral collapse within the host: when resolve fails, mere numbers and weapons cannot sustain a cause, and fear spreads where dharma and confidence have already been shaken.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that victory in war (and in ethical struggle) depends not only on numbers but on inner resolve. When confidence and dharma-based conviction erode, even a large force becomes ineffective; fear and hesitation can defeat an army before weapons do.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, amid the intense fighting, the Kaurava warriors—despite being many—show no willingness to commit themselves to battle. It is a snapshot of collapsing morale on Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s side during the Karṇa Parva conflict.