Shloka 426
रणभूमिवर्णनम् — Devāsuropama-yuddha and the ‘River’ Metaphor of the Battlefield
पाण्डवान् प्रत्युदीयुस्ते जयगृद्धा: प्रमन््यव: । भरतश्रेष्ठ! ये ही सैनिक युद्धके लिये उपस्थित हुए थे। राजेन्द्र! इस प्रकार सेनाका विभाग करके विजयकी अभिलाषासे क्रोधमें भरे हुए आपके सैनिक मद्रराज शल्यके अधीन हो पाण्डवोंपर चढ़ आये
pāṇḍavān pratyudīyus te jayagṛddhāḥ pramanyavaḥ | bharataśreṣṭha! ye hi sainikā yuddhāya upasthitā āsuḥ | rājendra! evaṃ senāṃ vibhajya vijayābhilāṣāt krodhena pūrṇāḥ tava sainikāḥ madrarājaśalyādhiṇāḥ pāṇḍavān abhyadravan |
Sañjaya said: “Those warriors, ravenous for victory and inflamed with wrath, advanced against the Pāṇḍavas. O best of the Bharatas, they were the very soldiers who had assembled for battle. O lord of kings, thus—after the army had been duly arrayed and divided—your troops, under the command of Śalya, king of Madra, charged the Pāṇḍavas, driven by the desire to win and seething with anger.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the thirst for victory (vijayābhilāṣa) and uncontrolled anger (krodha) propel armies into violence; it implicitly warns that passion-driven motives can eclipse discernment and dharmic restraint even within a context of kṣatriya warfare.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, after the Kaurava forces were arranged into divisions/formations, the troops—eager for victory and enraged—advanced to attack the Pāṇḍavas under the leadership of Śalya, king of Madra.