Shloka 37
सैन्धवविक्रमवर्णनम् / Description of Jayadratha’s Martial Display
अभ्यद्रवन् परीप्सन्तो व्यूढानीका: प्रहारिण: । संजयने कहा--राजन! युधिष्ठिर, भीमसेन, शिखण्डी, सात्यकि, नकुल-सहदेव, धष्टद्युम्न, विराट, द्रपद, केकय-राजकुमार, रोषमें भरा हुआ धृष्टकेतु तथा मत्स्यदेशीय योद्धा --ये सब-के-सब युद्धस्थलमें आगे बढ़े। अभिमन्युके ताऊ, चाचा तथा मामागण अपनी सेनाको व्यूहद्वारा संगठित करके प्रहार करनेके लिये उद्यत हो अभिमन्युकी रक्षाके लिये उसीके बनाये हुए मार्गसे व्यूहमें जानेके उद्देश्यसे एक साथ दौड़ पड़े
abhyadravan parīpsanto vyūḍhānīkāḥ prahāriṇaḥ |
Sañjaya said: Eager to save him, the warriors—whose troops were drawn up in battle-array and who were ready to strike—rushed forward together. In the ethical tension of the moment, their disciplined advance is driven not by mere aggression but by protective duty: to enter the enemy formation by the very path Abhimanyu had opened, and to defend him from being overwhelmed.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid violent conflict, the verse highlights a dharmic impulse: disciplined force is mobilized for protection—rushing to save a comrade/kinsman rather than for reckless slaughter. Read ethically, it frames martial action as accountable duty (rakṣaṇa) guided by purpose and solidarity.
Sañjaya reports that the Pāṇḍava-side leaders and allied kings, with their troops arranged in formation and ready to strike, surge forward together to enter the enemy’s battle-array by the route Abhimanyu had made—aiming to reach him and protect him inside the hostile formation.