Shloka 39
पार्षतस्तु बली राजन् कृतास्त्र: कृतनिश्चय: । द्रौणिमेवाभिदुद्राव मृत्युं कृत्वा निवर्तनम्,राजन! बलवान अस्त्रवेत्ता तथा दृढ़ निश्चयवाले धृष्टद्युम्नने मृत्युको ही युद्धसे लौटनेकी अवधि निश्चित करके द्रोणपुत्रपर ही धावा किया
pārṣatastu balī rājan kṛtāstraḥ kṛtaniścayaḥ | drauṇimevābhidudrāva mṛtyuṃ kṛtvā nivartanam ||
Sanjaya berkata: Wahai Raja, putra Pṛṣata yang perkasa—mahir dalam ilmu senjata dan teguh dalam tekad—menerjang langsung Drauṇi, menjadikan maut sendiri sebagai syarat untuk berpaling dari pertempuran.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of unwavering resolve in battle: a warrior may bind himself by a vow so strict that retreat is excluded unless death intervenes. Ethically, it portrays the tension between duty-driven courage and the destructive absolutism of war, where determination can become a self-chosen point of no return.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Dhṛṣṭadyumna—powerful and expert in weapons—rushes directly at Aśvatthāmā (Droṇa’s son). He does so with a grim resolve: he will not withdraw from the fight, treating death as the only ‘permission’ to turn back.