Shloka 26

Devanagari script

तां तु विद्रवर्ती दृष्टवा ऊचतुः केशवार्जुनौ । मा विद्रवत वित्रस्ता भयं त्यजत पाण्डवा:,अपनी सेनाको भागती देख श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनने उससे कहा--'पाण्डव वीरो! भयभीत होकर भागो मत। भय छोड़ो

Transliteration

tāṃ tu vidravantīṃ dṛṣṭvā ūcatuḥ keśavārjunau | mā vidravata vitrastā bhayaṃ tyajata pāṇḍavāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Seeing their forces in flight, Keśava and Arjuna addressed them: “Pāṇḍava heroes, do not run away in panic. Cast off fear.” In the moral frame of the epic, the call is to regain steadiness and uphold one’s duty in battle rather than surrender to terror and disorder.

Word by Word

ताम्her/that (f.)

तुbut/indeed

विद्रवतीम्running away/fleeing

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

ऊचतुःthey two said

केशवKeshava (Krishna)

अर्जुनौthe two Arjunas / Arjuna (as one of the pair)

माdo not

विद्रवतrun away/flee

वित्रस्ताःfrightened/terrified

भयम्fear

त्यजतabandon/give up

पाण्डवाःO Pandavas

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

Arjuna

Pāṇḍavas

Pāṇḍava army (senā, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Fear and panic lead to collapse of order; a leader’s duty is to restore courage and clarity so that dharma—here, the disciplined performance of one’s role in a justly undertaken battle—can be upheld.

What is happening in the narrative?

During the Drona Parva fighting, the Pāṇḍava forces begin to flee. Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) and Arjuna address them directly, forbidding retreat in terror and urging them to abandon fear and stand firm.