Shloka 22

धृष्टद्युम्नस्य द्रोणरथारोহণं सात्यकेः प्रतिरक्षणं च | Dhrishtadyumna Boards Droṇa’s Chariot; Sātyaki’s Counter-Protection

Devanagari script

भित्त्वानीकं महेष्वास: परेषां बहुशो युधि | कच्चिन्न निहत: संख्ये सौभद्र: परवीरहा,शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाला महाधनुर्धर सुभद्राकुमार अभिमन्यु युद्धमें शत्रुओंके उस व्यूहका अनेकों बार भेदन करके अन्तमें वहीं मारा तो नहीं गया?

Transliteration

bhittvānīkaṁ maheṣvāsaḥ pareṣāṁ bahuśo yudhi | kaccin na nihataḥ saṅkhye saubhadraḥ paravīrahā ||

Translation

Sanjaya said: “Having repeatedly broken through the enemy’s battle-array in the midst of combat, has the mighty archer—Subhadrā’s son Abhimanyu, slayer of hostile heroes—been killed at last in the thick of the fight?”

Word by Word

भित्त्वाhaving pierced/broken through

अनीकम्battle-array/army-division

महेष्वासःthe great bowman

परेषाम्of the enemies/others

बहुशःmany times, repeatedly

युधिin battle

कच्चित्whether indeed?, I hope (not)

नnot

निहतःslain, killed

संख्येin battle, in the fight

सौभद्रःthe son of Subhadrā (Abhimanyu)

परवीरहाslayer of enemy-heroes

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Abhimanyu (Saubhadra, son of Subhadrā)

enemy battle-array (anīka/vyūha)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral tension of war: even a righteous, valiant warrior who repeatedly performs extraordinary feats remains vulnerable to death. It underscores the fragility of life amid adharma-tinged conflict and the sorrowful cost borne by the virtuous.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya, reporting events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, anxiously asks whether Abhimanyu—renowned for breaking enemy formations again and again—has finally been slain in the battle, foreshadowing the grievous outcome connected with the enemy’s array.