Shloka 15
Jayadratha-rakṣā: Conch Signals and Encirclement of Arjuna
Chapter 79
स्वस्त्रीयं वासुदेवस्य पुत्र गाण्डीवधन्चन: । कथं त्वातिरथं वीर द्रक्ष्याम्पद्य निपातितम्,“वसुदेवनन्दन श्रीकृष्णके भानजे और गाण्डीवधारी अर्जुनके अतिरथी वीर पुत्र अभिमन्युको आज मैं धरतीपर पड़ा हुआ कैसे देख सकूँगी?
svastriyaṁ vāsudevasya putra gāṇḍīvadhanvanaḥ | kathaṁ tvātirathaṁ vīra drakṣyāmy adya nipātitam ||
Sañjaya said: “How can I, today, bear to see that heroic son—related by marriage to Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) and born of the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva—an atiratha among warriors, lying struck down upon the earth?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of war: even the fall of a supremely qualified warrior (atiratha) is not merely a tactical event but a moral and emotional catastrophe, intensified by bonds of kinship. It highlights how dharma-yuddha claims are strained when the young and heroic are brought down.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, laments the sight of Abhimanyu—Arjuna’s son and closely connected to Kṛṣṇa’s family—lying slain on the battlefield, emphasizing his valor and the shock of his fall.