Shloka 18
तांश्व संचोदयन् सर्वान् घ्नतैनमिति भारत
tāñ śva sañcodayan sarvān ghnatainam iti bhārata
Sañjaya said: Urging them all on, he cried, “Strike him down!”—O Bhārata—thus inciting the warriors to a decisive act amid the moral turbulence of battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, speech becomes an instrument of action: urging others to violence can shift responsibility and intensify adharma-like impulses, even when framed as battlefield necessity. It invites reflection on accountability for incitement and the ethical weight of commands.
Sañjaya reports that a leader (implied by context) is rallying all the fighters, exhorting them with the command “Kill him!” The line functions as a brief, urgent battlefield cue within the larger Drona-parvan combat narration addressed to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.