Shloka 17
भीमसेन–कर्णयुद्धवर्णनम्
Description of the Bhīmasena–Karṇa Engagement
अमृष्यमाणास्तं शब्दं क्रुद्धा: परमधन्विन: । नानादेश्या महीपाला: स्वसैन्यपरिरक्षिण:
amṛṣyamāṇās taṃ śabdaṃ kruddhāḥ paramadhanvinaḥ | nānādeśyā mahīpālāḥ svasainyaparirakṣiṇaḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Incapables de supporter ce son, les rois venus de maintes contrées—archers éminents, enflammés de colère—se tinrent prêts, résolus à protéger leurs propres troupes.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a recurring ethical tension in war: leaders must restrain reactive anger and yet fulfill their protective duty. The kings’ impulse is driven by wounded pride and rage at a provocation, but it is framed as turning toward the responsibility of safeguarding their own troops—an aspect of kṣatriya-dharma that demands vigilance and command rather than mere fury.
Sañjaya describes how a certain loud sound on the battlefield (a cry, roar, or tumult) provokes the assembled rulers. They cannot tolerate it, become enraged, and—being expert archers from many lands—ready themselves with the immediate aim of defending their own side’s forces.