Shloka 13
कर्णपर्व — चतुर्दशोऽध्यायः
Arjuna’s Suppression of the Saṃśaptakas; Kṛṣṇa’s Strategic Admonition; Battlefield Inventory
ततः प्रतिकृते यत्नं कुर्वाणी तो महारणे । कृतप्रतिकृते यत्तो शरसड्घैरभीतवत्
tataḥ pratikṛte yatnaṃ kurvāṇī to mahāraṇe | kṛtapratikṛte yatto śarasandghair abhītavat
Sañjaya dit : Alors, dans cette grande bataille, cherchant à rendre ce qui avait été fait et décidé à répondre coup pour coup, il poussa la contre-attaque par des volées de flèches, sans la moindre crainte.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethos of answering aggression with disciplined effort and fearlessness; ethically, it also points to how cycles of retaliation intensify conflict, a recurring concern in the Mahābhārata’s war narrative.
Sañjaya describes a combatant in the great battle making a determined counter-attack—seeking retaliation and responding with dense volleys of arrows, showing no fear.