Shloka 32
Adhyāya 104 — Śikhaṇḍin-puraskāraḥ (Śikhaṇḍin as Vanguard) and Bhīṣma’s Counter-Advance
कोष्ठीकृत्य च त॑ वीर धार्तराष्ट्रा महारथा: । एकं॑ सुबहवो युद्धे ततक्षु: सायकैर्दूढम्
koṣṭhīkṛtya ca taṁ vīra dhārtarāṣṭrā mahārathāḥ | ekaṁ subahavo yuddhe tatakṣuḥ sāyakair dṛḍham ||
संजय बोले—फिर आपके महारथी पुत्रों ने उस वीर अभिमन्यु को चारों ओर से घेर लिया; युद्धभूमि में अकेले उस पर बहुत-से योद्धाओं ने बाणों से जोर-जोर से प्रहार करना आरम्भ किया।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a recurring ethical tension in the Mahābhārata: battlefield conduct (dharma-yuddha ideals) versus expedient victory. The image of many elite warriors overwhelming a single fighter underscores how power can abandon fairness, inviting reflection on courage, restraint, and the moral cost of collective aggression.
Sañjaya reports that the Kaurava great chariot-warriors have surrounded a lone heroic warrior in a tight formation and are attacking him intensely with volleys of arrows—many fighters concentrating force on one target.