Shloka 38
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 49: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Strategic Foreboding after Abhimanyu’s Fall
हत्वा दश सहस्राणि कौसल्यं च महारथम् । कृष्णार्जुनसम: कार्ष्णि: शक्रलोकं गतो ध्रुवम्,दस हजार रथियों और महारथी कोसलनरेश बृहद्वधलको मारकर श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनके समान पराक्रमी अभिमन्यु निश्चय ही इन्द्रलोकमें गया है
hatvā daśa sahasrāṇi kausalyaṃ ca mahāratham | kṛṣṇārjunasamaḥ kārṣṇiḥ śakralokaṃ gato dhruvam ||
Sañjaya said: “Having slain ten thousand warriors and also the great chariot-fighter, the king of Kosala, the son of Kṛṣṇa—Abhimanyu—whose prowess matched that of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, has surely gone to Śakra’s world. Thus, even amid the brutal calculus of war, his death is framed as a heroic passage to a higher realm, underscoring the epic’s tension between martial glory and the tragic cost of dharma-bound conflict.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reflects the epic’s martial-ethical worldview: a kṣatriya hero’s death in battle is portrayed as a destined ascent to Indra’s heaven, yet it simultaneously highlights the grave human cost of righteous war—valor is honored, but tragedy is not erased.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Abhimanyu, after killing ten thousand fighters and the Kosalan king (a great chariot-warrior), has fallen and is said to have attained Śakra’s world (Indraloka).