Shloka 3
पितृपैतामहं कर्म कुर्वाणमतिमानुषम् । दृष्टवार्दितं शरै: कार्ष्णि त्वदीया हृषिता5भवन्,अपने पिता-पितामहोंके अनुसार मानवीय शक्तिसे बढ़कर पराक्रम प्रकट करनेवाले अर्जुनकुमार अभिमन्युको उस समय बाणोंसे पीड़ित देखकर आपके सैनिक हर्षसे खिल उठे
pitṛpaitāmahaṁ karma kurvāṇam atimānuṣam | dṛṣṭvā ārditaṁ śaraiḥ kārṣṇi tvadīyā hṛṣitābhavan ||
Sañjaya said: Seeing Kārṣṇi—Abhimanyu, who was performing the ancestral, heroic duty of his fathers and grandfathers with prowess beyond ordinary human measure—wounded and harassed by arrows, your warriors were filled with joy. The verse underscores the grim moral inversion of war: the suffering of a righteous, valiant youth becomes a cause of exultation for the opposing host.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of kṣatriya-dharma as an inherited, ancestral obligation performed with extraordinary courage, while also exposing the ethical darkness of war—where opponents may celebrate the suffering of a noble fighter, revealing how conflict can distort moral sensibility.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Abhimanyu, fighting with exceptional valor in the manner of his forefathers, is seen being struck and tormented by many arrows; upon witnessing his distress, the Kaurava side (Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s troops) becomes elated.