Shloka 13

Droṇa’s Defensive Stand and Abhimanyu Commissioned to Breach the Cakravyūha (द्रोणानीक-प्रतिरोधः; सौभद्र-नियोजनम्)

Devanagari script

चक्रव्यूह़ो महाराज आचार्येणाभिकल्पित: । तत्र शक्रोपमा: सर्वे राजानो विनिवेशिता:,राजन! आचार्य द्रोणने जिस चक्रव्यूहका निर्माण किया था, उसमें इन्द्रके समान पराक्रम प्रकट करनेवाले समस्त राजाओंका समावेश कर रखा था

Transliteration

cakravyūho mahārāja ācāryeṇābhikalpitaḥ | tatra śakropamāḥ sarve rājāno viniveśitāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Ô grand roi, la formation circulaire de combat (cakravyūha) fut conçue par le précepteur. En son sein furent postés tous les rois—des guerriers dont la vaillance était comparée à celle d’Indra—rangés de sorte que la formation fût redoutable et difficile à percer.»

Word by Word

चक्रव्यूहःthe (circular) battle-array, Chakravyuha

महाराजO great king

आचार्येणby the teacher (Droṇa)

अभिकल्पितःarranged, devised

तत्रthere, in that (array)

शक्रोपमाःcomparable to Indra

सर्वेall

राजानःkings

विनिवेशिताःwere placed/posted/arrayed

राजन्O king

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Droṇa

Cakravyūha

Śakra (Indra)

kings (rājānaḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how deliberate strategy and disciplined deployment can magnify collective power in war. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s tension between martial skill (kṣatriya-dharma) and the human cost of making battle ‘impenetrable’ through calculated arrangement of heroes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Droṇa has designed the cakravyūha and has positioned within it many powerful kings, described as Indra-like in valor, to strengthen the formation and control the battlefield.