Shloka 11
अध्याय ७१ — द्रोणव्यूहरक्षा तथा समकालीन द्वन्द्वयुद्धानि
Protection of Droṇa’s formation and parallel duels
अकृतार्थश्न भीतश्न न च सान्नाहिको हतः । अयज्वा त्वनपत्यश्व ततोडसौ जीवित: पुन:,सूंजयका पुत्र कवच बाँधकर युद्धमें लड़ता हुआ नहीं मारा गया था। उसे अकृतार्थ और भयभीत अवस्थामें अपने प्राणोंका त्याग करना पड़ा था। वह यज्ञकर्मसे रहित और संतानहीन भी था। इसलिये नारदजीने पुनः उसे जीवित कर दिया था
akṛtārthaś ca bhītaś ca na ca sānnāhiko hataḥ | ayajvā tv anapatyaś ca tato 'sau jīvitaḥ punaḥ ||
Vyāsa said: “He did not fall in battle while properly armed and engaged; rather, he met his end in a state of failure and fear. He was also one who had not performed sacrificial rites and was without offspring. Therefore, he was restored to life again.” The passage underscores that a warrior’s death is judged not only by the fact of dying, but by the manner—courage, preparedness, and fulfilled duty—and it also links ritual merit and lineage with one’s posthumous fate in the epic’s moral imagination.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts an honorable, duty-fulfilled death in battle (armed and steadfast) with a death marked by fear and unfulfilled purpose, and it also reflects the epic’s view that ritual responsibility (yajña) and continuity of lineage (offspring) are ethically significant factors shaping one’s fate.
Vyāsa explains that a certain person was not killed while properly armored in combat; instead he died in fear and without having achieved his aim. Because he was also described as lacking sacrificial merit and offspring, he was subsequently brought back to life again.