Shloka 12
शल्यपर्व — चतुर्विंशोऽध्यायः | Śalya Parva, Chapter 24: Disruption of Kaurava Formations and the Elephant Encirclement
श्रुत्वा तु वचनं तस्य तावका जयगृद्धिन: । जवेनाभ्यपतन् हृष्टा: पाण्डवानामनीकिनीम्,विजयाभिलाषी शकुनिकी यह बात सुनकर आपके सैनिक अत्यन्त प्रसन्न हो बड़े वेगसे पाण्डव-सेनापर टूट पड़े
śrutvā tu vacanaṃ tasya tāvakā jayagṛddhinaḥ | javena abhyapatan hṛṣṭāḥ pāṇḍavānām anīkinīm ||
Hearing his words, your warriors—hungry for victory—were filled with exhilaration and, with great speed, rushed to assault the Pāṇḍavas’ army.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral-psychological point: the hunger for victory (jaya-gṛddhi) can intoxicate a group, producing exhilaration that overrides restraint and propels people into aggressive action. It implicitly cautions that triumph-seeking, when ungoverned by dharma, becomes a powerful driver of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, after hearing a leader’s words, the Kaurava warriors became joyful and swiftly charged the Pandavas’ battle formation, initiating or intensifying an assault on the Pandava host.