Shloka 42
अध्याय ३: कृपस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति नीत्युपदेशः
Kṛpa’s Counsel to Duryodhana
जैसे साँड़ साँड्रोंको परास्त करके उन्हें बहुत दूरतक खदेड़ते रहते हैं, उसी प्रकार उन सब पाण्डववीरोंने आपके समस्त सैनिकोंको युद्धसे विमुख होकर भागते देख बाणोंका प्रहार करते हुए दूरतक उनका पीछा किया ।। सेनावशेषं तं दृष्टवा तव पुत्रस्य पाण्डव: । अवस्थितं सव्यसाची चुक्रोध बलवन्नूप,नरेश्वर! पाण्डुकुमार सव्यसाची अर्जुन आपके पुत्रकी सेनाके उस एक भागको अवशिष्ट एवं सामने उपस्थित देख अत्यन्त कुपित हो उठे
yathā sāṇḍaḥ sāṇḍrān parājitya tān bahu dūratak khādayanti, tathā te sarve pāṇḍava-vīrās tava sarva-sainyān yuddhād vimukhān palāyamānān dṛṣṭvā bāṇa-prahāraṃ kurvanto dūratak anujagmuḥ. senāvaśeṣaṃ taṃ dṛṣṭvā tava putrasya pāṇḍavaḥ avasthitaṃ savyasācī cukrodha balavān nṛpa, nareśvara. pāṇḍu-kumāraḥ savyasācī arjunaḥ tava putrasya senāyāḥ tam eka-bhāgam avaśiṣṭaṃ sammukham upasthitaṃ dṛṣṭvā atyantaṃ kupito ’bhavat.
As a powerful bull, having defeated other bulls, drives them far away, so the Pandava heroes—seeing all your soldiers turn their backs and flee from battle—kept striking them with arrows and pursued them to a great distance. Then, O king, when Arjuna, the Pandu prince famed as Savyasachi, saw a remaining contingent of your son’s army still standing before him, he was seized by intense wrath.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic that momentum matters: a fleeing force becomes vulnerable to pursuit, while a remaining, defiant contingent demands a decisive response. Arjuna’s anger signals resolve and duty-driven intensity (kṣatriya-dharma) rather than private malice—war compresses moral choice into firmness, protection of one’s side, and the necessity to end resistance.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that the Pandava warriors chased the retreating Kaurava troops, shooting them with arrows over a long distance. Then Arjuna notices that a remnant of Duryodhana’s army is still standing in front of him; seeing this remaining formation, he becomes fiercely enraged and prepares to engage it.