Shloka 14
Jayadrathasya varaprāptiḥ (जयद्रथस्य वरप्राप्तिः) — Jayadratha’s boon and the restraint of the Pāṇḍava advance
सौभद्रचापप्रभवैर्निकृत्ता: परमेषुभि: । स्वानेवाभिमुखान् घ्नन्तः प्राद्रवन् जीवितार्थिन:,सुभद्राकुमारके धनुषसे छूटे हुए उत्तम बाणोंसे क्षत-विक्षत हो आपके सैनिक अपने जीवनकी रक्षाके लिये सामने आये हुए अपने ही पक्षके योद्धाओंको मारते हुए भाग चले
saubhadra-cāpa-prabhavair nikṛttāḥ parameṣubhiḥ | svān evābhimukhān ghnantaḥ prādravan jīvitārthinaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Cut down and mangled by the supreme arrows released from Abhimanyu’s bow, your soldiers—desperate to save their lives—fled in panic, even striking down their own comrades who stood before them. The scene shows how fear and confusion in battle can overturn loyalty and right conduct, making men harm their own side in the scramble to survive.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how terror and self-preservation can eclipse dharma: when discipline collapses, even basic loyalties fail, and people may commit grave wrongs—such as harming their own side—simply to survive.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Abhimanyu’s powerful arrows have shattered the Kaurava ranks; wounded and desperate, the soldiers flee in disorder, even striking allies who block their path.