Shloka 46
अपक्रम्य तु ते तूर्ण तस्मादायोधनान्नूप । शोकसंविग्नमनसश्रिन्ताध्यानपराभवन्
sañjaya uvāca | apakramya tu te tūrṇaṃ tasmād āyodhanān nṛpa | śokasaṃvignamanasaś cintādhyānaparābhavan ||
Sanjaya said: “O king, those men, their minds shaken by grief, quickly withdrew from that battlefield. Overwhelmed by sorrow, they became absorbed in anxious reflection—pondering what ought to be done and what duty now required amid the ruin of war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in the midst of war, intense grief can force a pause that turns warriors from action to reflection. The verse highlights a moral-psychological moment: withdrawal is not merely tactical, but an ethical and emotional reckoning—cintā and dhyāna about what duty (kartavya) now demands after devastating events.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the (previously mentioned) warriors quickly leave the battlefield. Their minds are shaken by sorrow, and they become absorbed in anxious contemplation, indicating a temporary break in combat driven by grief and deliberation.