Shloka 31
अभिमन्युवधः
Abhimanyu’s Fall and the Battlefield Aftermath
विरथं विधनुष्कं च कुरुष्वैनं यदीच्छसि । तदाचार्यवच: श्रुत्वा कर्णो वैकर्तनस्त्वरन्,“यदि तुम इसे परास्त करना चाहते हो तो इसके रथ और धनुषको नष्ट कर दो।' आचार्यकी यह बात सुनकर विकर्तनपुत्र कर्णने बड़ी उतावलीके साथ अपने बाणोंद्वारा शीघ्रतापूर्वक हाथ चलाते हुए अस्त्रोंका प्रयोग करनेवाले अभिमन्युके धनुषको काट दिया। भोजवंशी कृतवर्माने उसके घोड़े मार डाले और कृपाचार्यने दोनों पार्श्वरक्षकोंका काम तमाम कर दिया
sañjaya uvāca |
virathaṃ vidhanuṣkaṃ ca kuruṣvainaṃ yadīcchasi |
tad ācāryavacaḥ śrutvā karṇo vaikatartanas tvaran |
Sañjaya said: “If you truly wish to bring him down, make him without a chariot and without a bow.” Hearing the teacher’s counsel, Karṇa—the son of Vikarṭana—hurried to act, intent on stripping the young warrior of the means of combat. The moment underscores a grim ethic of war: victory is pursued not only by valor in equal contest, but by disabling an opponent’s supports—chariot, weapons, and protectors—so that prowess is overwhelmed by coordinated force.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how counsel (ācārya-vacaḥ) can redirect battlefield action toward strategic disabling of an opponent’s supports (chariot and bow). It raises an ethical tension within kṣatriya-dharma: whether victory gained by coordinated disarming aligns with ideals of fair combat or represents a harsher, outcome-driven war ethic.
Sañjaya reports that a preceptor advises making the opponent chariotless and bowless. Karṇa, identified as Vaikartana, immediately hastens to carry out that instruction, moving to neutralize the enemy’s capacity to fight by removing key instruments of battle.