Shloka 15
महाव्यूहप्रवर्तनम् / Deployment of the Great Battle Arrays
शस्त्रास्त्रविद्धिर्नरवीरयो थै- रथिछिता: सैन्यगणास्त्वदीया: । रथौघपादातगजाश्चसंघै: प्रयाद्धिराजी विधिवत् प्रणुन्ने:
sañjaya uvāca |
śastrāstraviddhir naravīrayothai rathicchitāḥ sainyagaṇās tvadīyāḥ |
rathaughapādātagajāś ca saṅghaiḥ prayāddhi rājī vidhivat praṇunneḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Tes troupes—des héros frappés et transpercés par les armes et les traits, et nombre de cochers abattus—furent refoulées en respectant l’ordre convenable du combat. En masses serrées de chars, de fantassins et d’éléphants, elles se retirèrent du champ de bataille, contraintes par la vigueur de l’assaut.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid destructive conflict, the epic notes the importance of vidhivat—acting with discipline and recognized rules of engagement. The verse highlights how force and consequence operate in war: when overwhelmed, an army is compelled to withdraw, and order becomes a moral and practical necessity.
Sañjaya reports to the Kuru side that Duryodhana’s forces, heavily wounded and with many chariot-warriors cut down, were driven back. They retreat from the battlefield in clustered formations of chariots, infantry, and elephants, indicating a pressured withdrawal rather than a voluntary pause.