Shloka 24
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
न त्वेवाहं न गमिष्यामि मध्ये तेषां शूराणामिति मां शल्य विद्धि | मित्रद्रोहो मर्षणीयो न मे<5यं त्यक्त्वा प्राणाननुयास्यामि द्रोणम्
na tvevāhaṃ na gamiṣyāmi madhye teṣāṃ śūrāṇām iti māṃ śalya viddhi | mitradroho marṣaṇīyo na me ’yaṃ tyaktvā prāṇān anuyāsyāmi droṇam ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Jangan kira, wahai Śalya, bahwa aku tidak akan masuk ke tengah para kesatria itu. Mundur dari pertempuran berarti mengkhianati sahabat, dan pengkhianatan semacam itu tak tertahankan bagiku. Karena itu, sekalipun harus menanggalkan nyawa, aku akan mengikuti Droṇa.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames loyalty as a binding ethical duty: withdrawing from the fight would amount to mitradroha (betrayal of a friend/ally), which the speaker declares unbearable. Honor is presented as weightier than personal survival, so he chooses to follow Droṇa even at the cost of life.
In the Karṇa Parva context, Sañjaya reports a warrior’s resolve addressed to Śalya: he rejects the idea that he will stay away from the press of heroes, insists that retreat would be disloyalty, and declares his intention to follow Droṇa, accepting death if necessary.