Shloka 34
अभिमन्यु-परिवेष्टनम्
Encirclement and Counterassault of Abhimanyu
पुनर्दधिपान् द्विपारोहान् वैजयन्त्यड्कुशध्वजान् । तूणान् वर्माण्यथो कक्ष्या ग्रैवेयांश्व॒ सकम्बलान्,रथोंका संहार करके अभिमन्युने पुनः तीखी धारवाले बाणोंद्वारा शत्रुओंके हाथियों, गजारोहियों, उनके झंडों, अंकुशों, ध्वजाओं, तूणीरों, कवचों, रस्सों, कण्ठाभूषणों, झूलों, घंटों, सूँड़ों, दाँतों, छत्रों, मालाओं और पादरक्षकों को भी काट डाला
sañjaya uvāca | punar dadhipān dvipārohān vaijayantyaṅkuśadhvajān | tūṇān varmāṇy atho kakṣyā graiveyāṁś ca sakambalān |
Sañjaya said: Again, Abhimanyu cut down with razor-edged arrows the enemy’s elephant-drivers and the riders upon elephants, along with their vaijayantī standards, goads, and banners; and he also severed their quivers, armours, girths and straps, neck-ornaments, and even the elephants’ coverings. The scene underscores the relentless momentum of battle—skill and courage deployed to break the opponent’s war-machine, yet within the grim moral atmosphere of a fratricidal war where prowess and destruction advance together.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights martial excellence used to dismantle the enemy’s instruments of war—drivers, mounts, and equipment—while implicitly reminding the reader that even righteous prowess in a dharma-war unfolds within the tragic, destructive reality of kin-slaying conflict.
Sañjaya describes Abhimanyu repeatedly striking the opposing elephant corps: he cuts down mahouts and riders and slices through their standards, goads, banners, quivers, armour, straps, neck-ornaments, and coverings, disrupting the enemy’s elephant formations.