Shloka 213
Adhyāya 40 (Book 7, Droṇa-parva): Abhimanyu’s Rapid Advance and Battlefield Disruption
जयमाकाड्क्षमाणानां शूराणामनिवर्तिनाम् | तदनन्तर विजयकी अभिलाषा रखकर युद्धमें कभी पीठ न दिखानेवाले आपके शूरवीर सैनिकोंका शत्रुओंके साथ महान् युद्ध होने लगा
jayam ākāṅkṣamāṇānāṁ śūrāṇām anivartinām | tad-anantaraṁ vijaya-kāmānāṁ yuṣmākaṁ śūra-sainikānāṁ śatrubhiḥ saha mahān yuddhaḥ samabhavat ||
Sanjaya berkata: “Sesudah itu, pecahlah pertempuran besar antara prajurit-prajuritmu yang gagah—yang mendambakan kemenangan dan tak pernah berpaling—melawan para musuh. Didorong hasrat menang dan teguh pada dharma ksatria, mereka menghadapi lawan tanpa mundur.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethic (kṣatriya-dharma): steadfastness in battle, refusal to retreat, and the powerful pull of victory-desire. It implicitly raises an ethical tension central to the Mahābhārata—courage and duty can be admirable, yet when yoked to ambition and hostility they intensify destruction.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, after the preceding developments, a fierce engagement begins: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s brave, unretreating troops—eager for victory—clash in a great battle with the opposing forces.