Shloka 21

अभिमन्युवधः

Abhimanyu’s Fall and the Battlefield Aftermath

Devanagari script

आरुजन्नपि मे प्राणान्‌ मोहयन्नपि सायकैः,'शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाला सुभद्राकुमार अभिमन्यु यद्यपि अपने बाणोंद्वारा मेरे प्राणोंको अत्यन्त वष्ट दे रहा है, मुझे मूर्च्छित किये देता है, तथापि बारंबार मेरा हर्ष बढ़ा रहा है। रणक्षेत्रमें विचरता हुआ सुभद्राका यह पुत्र मुझे अत्यन्त आनन्दित कर रहा है

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | ārujann api me prāṇān mohayann api sāyakaiḥ | śatruvīrāṇāṃ saṃhārakaraḥ subhadrākumāro ’bhimanyuḥ | yady api svabāṇair mama prāṇān atyantaṃ pīḍayati mām mūrcchitaṃ karoti tathāpi punaḥ punaḥ mama harṣaṃ vardhayati | raṇakṣetre vicarann ayaṃ subhadrāputro mām atyantaṃ ānanditaṃ karoti ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Though he seems to tear at my very life and though he bewilders me with his arrows, Abhimanyu—the son of Subhadrā, a slayer of enemy-heroes—still makes my joy rise again and again. Even while his shafts grievously torment me and drive me into faintness, this son of Subhadrā, moving about the battlefield, fills me with profound delight.”

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'ārujan': 'tearing, rending, breaking apart', 'api': 'even, although', 'me': 'my', 'prāṇān': 'life-breaths

• vital life', 'mohayan': 'bewildering, deluding, confounding', 'sāyakaiḥ': 'with arrows', 'śatru-vīrāṇām': 'of enemy heroes/warriors', 'saṃhāra-karaḥ': 'bringing destruction

• slayer', 'subhadrā-kumāraḥ': 'the son of Subhadrā', 'abhimanyuḥ': 'Abhimanyu', 'yady api': 'even if, although', 'sva-bāṇaiḥ': 'with his own arrows', 'mama': 'of me

• my', 'atyantam': 'exceedingly, intensely', 'pīḍayati': 'torments, afflicts, presses hard', 'mām': 'me', 'mūrcchitam karoti': 'causes to faint

• renders unconscious', 'tathāpi': 'nevertheless', 'punaḥ punaḥ': 'again and again', 'harṣam': 'joy, exhilaration', 'vardhayati': 'increases', 'raṇa-kṣetre': 'on the battlefield', 'vicarann': 'moving about, roaming', 'subhadrā-putraḥ': 'Subhadrā’s son', 'ānanditam karoti': 'gladdens

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Abhimanyu
• Subhadrā
• arrows (sāyaka/bāṇa)
• battlefield (raṇakṣetra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of honoring valor even in an opponent: true martial ethics can include admiration for courage and skill, where excellence in battle evokes awe rather than mere hatred.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Abhimanyu’s fierce battlefield prowess—his arrows overwhelm and nearly incapacitate the speaker, yet Abhimanyu’s heroic conduct and effectiveness against enemy champions repeatedly fills the observer with exhilaration and admiration.