Shloka 40
पुरस्तात् के च वीरस्य युध्यमानस्य संयुगे | के च तस्मिंस्तनूंस्त्यकत्वा प्रतीपं मृत्युमाव्रजन्,कौन वीर उन महात्माके दाहिने पहियेकी और कौन बायें पहियेकी रक्षा करते थे? कौन उस युद्धस्थलमें युद्धपरायण वीरवर द्रोणाचार्यके आगे थे और किन लोगोंने अपने शरीरका मोह छोड़कर विपक्षियोंका सामना करते हुए उस रणक्षेत्रमें मृत्युका वरण किया था
purastāt ke ca vīrasya yudhyamānasya saṃyuge | ke ca tasmiṃs tanūṃs tyaktvā pratīpaṃ mṛtyum āvrajan |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Who stood in front of that hero as he fought in the thick of battle? Who guarded his right wheel and who his left? And who, casting off attachment to their bodies, faced the opposing warriors and chose death on that field?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of steadfastness in battle: protecting one’s leader, holding formation, and meeting death without clinging to the body—an ethical frame where courage and duty are valued over self-preservation.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya for details of the battlefield arrangement—who stood at the front, who protected the flanks (right and left wheel), and which warriors confronted the enemy so resolutely that they accepted death.