Mahabharata 7.116.18 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 116, Shloka 18
Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)
तौ तत्र समतिक्रान्तौ दृष्टवातीव तरस्विनौ । सिन्धुराजं तु सम्प्रेक्ष्य गाण्डीवस्येषुगोचरे
tau tatra samatikrāntau dṛṣṭvā'tīva tarasvinau | sindhurājaṃ tu samprekṣya gāṇḍīvasyeṣugocare ||
Sañjaya dijo: «Al ver allí a aquellos dos héroes de velocidad extraordinaria, que habían quebrado toda resistencia y penetrado, y al observar a Jayadratha, rey de Sindhu, situado dentro del alcance de las flechas disparadas desde el Gāṇḍīva, los Kauravas—como impulsados por el destino—se vieron obligados a decidir qué debía hacerse. En aquella hora terrible de matanza, cuando no quedaba otro rumbo que la muerte, ¿cómo determinaron su deber?»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as decisive action under extreme pressure: when circumstances narrow to a single grim outcome, warriors still must choose and commit to what they judge as duty, even if compelled by the momentum of time (kāla) and the inevitability of death.
Two formidable heroes have forced their way through the battlefield. Jayadratha, the Sindhu king, is now within the effective arrow-range of Arjuna’s bow, Gāṇḍīva. The Kauravas, sensing imminent catastrophe, must quickly determine their course of action in a near-hopeless situation.
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