Shloka 21

अभिमन्युवधः

Abhimanyu’s Fall and the Battlefield Aftermath

Devanagari script

आरुजन्नपि मे प्राणान्‌ मोहयन्नपि सायकैः,'शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाला सुभद्राकुमार अभिमन्यु यद्यपि अपने बाणोंद्वारा मेरे प्राणोंको अत्यन्त वष्ट दे रहा है, मुझे मूर्च्छित किये देता है, तथापि बारंबार मेरा हर्ष बढ़ा रहा है। रणक्षेत्रमें विचरता हुआ सुभद्राका यह पुत्र मुझे अत्यन्त आनन्दित कर रहा है

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | ārujann api me prāṇān mohayann api sāyakaiḥ | śatruvīrāṇāṃ saṃhārakaraḥ subhadrākumāro ’bhimanyuḥ | yady api svabāṇair mama prāṇān atyantaṃ pīḍayati mām mūrcchitaṃ karoti tathāpi punaḥ punaḥ mama harṣaṃ vardhayati | raṇakṣetre vicarann ayaṃ subhadrāputro mām atyantaṃ ānanditaṃ karoti ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Bien qu’il semble déchirer jusqu’à ma propre vie et qu’il m’égare par ses flèches, Abhimanyu —fils de Subhadrā, pourfendeur des héros ennemis— fait pourtant monter ma joie encore et encore. Même lorsque ses traits me tourmentent cruellement et me jettent dans la défaillance, ce fils de Subhadrā, parcourant le champ de bataille, me remplit d’une allégresse profonde.»

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'ārujan': 'tearing, rending, breaking apart', 'api': 'even, although', 'me': 'my', 'prāṇān': 'life-breaths

• vital life', 'mohayan': 'bewildering, deluding, confounding', 'sāyakaiḥ': 'with arrows', 'śatru-vīrāṇām': 'of enemy heroes/warriors', 'saṃhāra-karaḥ': 'bringing destruction

• slayer', 'subhadrā-kumāraḥ': 'the son of Subhadrā', 'abhimanyuḥ': 'Abhimanyu', 'yady api': 'even if, although', 'sva-bāṇaiḥ': 'with his own arrows', 'mama': 'of me

• my', 'atyantam': 'exceedingly, intensely', 'pīḍayati': 'torments, afflicts, presses hard', 'mām': 'me', 'mūrcchitam karoti': 'causes to faint

• renders unconscious', 'tathāpi': 'nevertheless', 'punaḥ punaḥ': 'again and again', 'harṣam': 'joy, exhilaration', 'vardhayati': 'increases', 'raṇa-kṣetre': 'on the battlefield', 'vicarann': 'moving about, roaming', 'subhadrā-putraḥ': 'Subhadrā’s son', 'ānanditam karoti': 'gladdens

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Abhimanyu
• Subhadrā
• arrows (sāyaka/bāṇa)
• battlefield (raṇakṣetra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of honoring valor even in an opponent: true martial ethics can include admiration for courage and skill, where excellence in battle evokes awe rather than mere hatred.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Abhimanyu’s fierce battlefield prowess—his arrows overwhelm and nearly incapacitate the speaker, yet Abhimanyu’s heroic conduct and effectiveness against enemy champions repeatedly fills the observer with exhilaration and admiration.