Shloka 16
अमोघशक्तिव्यंसनप्रश्नः — Why Karṇa’s Śakti Was Not Used on Arjuna
भरतवंशी नरेश! जो-जो महारथी उनके सामने आये, उन सबको आचार्यने पितृलोकमें भेज दिया ।। प्रमथ्नन्तं तदा वीरान् भारद्वाजं महारथम् | अभ्यवर्तत संक्रुद्ध: शिबी राजा प्रतापवान्,इस प्रकार शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करते हुए महारथी द्रोणाचार्यका सामना करनेके लिये प्रतापी राजा शिबि क्रोधपूर्वक आये
sañjaya uvāca |
bharatavaṃśī nareśa! yo-yo mahārathī teṣāṃ samakṣam āyātaḥ, tān sarvān ācāryo pitṛlokaṃ preṣayām āsa ||
pramathnantaṃ tadā vīrān bhāradvājaṃ mahāratham |
abhyavartata saṃkruddhaḥ śibī rājā pratāpavān ||
Sanjaya said: O king of the Bharata line, whatever great chariot-warriors came before him, the Teacher (Drona) sent them all to the world of the ancestors—that is, he slew them in battle. As Drona, the mighty Bhāradvāja, was thus crushing the enemy heroes, the valiant King Śibi, inflamed with anger, advanced to confront him. The passage underscores the grim ethic of the battlefield: prowess and duty drive warriors forward even when the opponent’s superiority is evident, and death is framed in the traditional idiom of ‘going to the Pitṛ-world.’
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield death in a dharmic idiom—being ‘sent to Pitṛloka’—and highlights kṣatriya-duty: warriors continue to meet a formidable opponent out of obligation to honor, allegiance, and the demands of war, even when the cost is likely death.
Drona is cutting down the opposing great warriors one after another. Seeing this slaughter, King Śibi, angered and valorous, advances to challenge Drona directly.