Shloka 23
Abhimanyu-śravaṇa-prastāva and Cakravyūha-vinyāsa
Prelude to Abhimanyu’s Account and the Wheel-Formation Deployment
दारुण: क्षत्रधर्मोडयं विहितो धर्मकर्तृभिः । यत्र राज्येप्सव: शूरा बाले शस्त्रमपातयन्,धर्मशास्त्रके निर्माताओंने यह क्षत्रिय-धर्म अत्यन्त कठोर बनाया है, जिसमें स्थित होकर राज्यके लोभी शूर-वीरोंने एक बालकपर अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंका प्रहार किया
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
dāruṇaḥ kṣatradharmodayaṃ vihito dharmakartṛbhiḥ |
yatra rājyepsavaḥ śūrā bāle śastram apātayan |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Cruel indeed is this so‑called rise of kṣatriya-duty, as it has been laid down by the makers of dharma—where, driven by desire for sovereignty, heroic men have hurled weapons even at a mere boy.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices an ethical protest: when the pursuit of power leads warriors to attack even a child, the ‘warrior code’ appears brutally distorted, raising the question of whether social duty (dharma) can justify indiscriminate violence.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra laments the harshness of the war’s norms, observing that warriors hungry for kingdom and victory have struck at a mere boy—an indictment of how ambition can override restraint and compassion in battle.