Shloka 393
धृष्टद्युम्नस्य द्रोणरथारोহণं सात्यकेः प्रतिरक्षणं च | Dhrishtadyumna Boards Droṇa’s Chariot; Sātyaki’s Counter-Protection
भूमावनाथवच्छेते नूनं नाथवतां वर: । “जो सदा बहुमूल्य शय्यापर सोनेके योग्य और सुकुमार था, वह सनाथशिरोमणि वीर अभिमन्यु आज निश्चय ही अनाथकी भाँति पृथ्वीपर सो रहा है
sañjaya uvāca |
bhūmāv anāthavac chete nūnaṃ nāthavatāṃ varaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Surely the best among those who were once well-protected now lies upon the bare earth like one without a guardian.” In the ethical shadow of war, the verse laments how even the most cherished and sheltered hero can be reduced to utter vulnerability—an indictment of the devastation that adharma-driven violence brings upon the young and noble.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral cost of war: worldly protection, status, and comfort collapse in an instant, and the truly tragic outcome is the helplessness and indignity inflicted upon the noble—prompting reflection on dharma and restraint in violence.
Sañjaya describes a fallen hero lying on the earth ‘like one without a protector,’ conveying the battlefield aftermath and the pathos of a once-cherished warrior reduced to lifeless vulnerability.