Shloka 41
Droṇasya raudra-prayogaḥ
Droṇa’s intensified assault and the Pāṇḍava response
ततः प्रववृते युद्ध परस्परवधैषिणाम्
tataḥ pravavṛte yuddhaṃ parasparavadhaiṣiṇām
Sañjaya said: Then the battle truly commenced, as the opposing warriors—each intent on the other’s destruction—closed in with mutual resolve to kill. The scene marks the grim ethical collapse of restraint, where rivalry hardens into a shared will for slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war, once unleashed, becomes reciprocal and self-perpetuating: when both sides seek each other’s death, ethical restraint (dharma as self-control and proportion) is eclipsed by the shared intention to destroy.
Sañjaya reports that the fighting now fully breaks out: the combatants on both sides engage directly, driven by mutual hostility and the desire to kill one another.