Shloka 76
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
त॑ दहन्तमनीकानि तत्र तत्र महारथम् । क्षत्रिया वर्जयामासुर्युगान्ताग्नेमिवोल्बणम्,महारथी कर्ण प्रलयकालके प्रचण्ड अग्निके समान जहाँ-तहाँ पाण्डव-सेनाओंको दग्ध कर रहा था। उस समय क्षत्रिय लोग उसे छोड़कर दूर हट जाते थे
taṁ dahantam anīkāni tatra tatra mahāratham | kṣatriyā varjayāmāsur yugāntāgnim ivolbaṇam ||
Sañjaya dit : Tandis que ce grand guerrier de char embrasait les formations de combat çà et là, les kṣatriya se mirent à l’éviter et à reculer—comme les hommes se dérobent devant le feu farouche qui flamboie à la fin d’un âge.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how overwhelming, near-apocalyptic violence in war can eclipse ordinary ideals of heroic engagement: even kṣatriyas, trained for battle, may withdraw when confronted with a force likened to the end-of-age fire. It implicitly questions the ethical cost of unrestrained martial power and the fragility of dharma amid catastrophic destruction.
Sañjaya describes a great chariot-warrior (contextually Karṇa) scorching the opposing formations across the battlefield. Seeing him devastate troops in multiple places, the kṣatriya warriors avoid direct confrontation and pull back, as one would instinctively keep away from a raging, world-ending blaze.