Shloka 13
कर्णेन व्यूहविधानम् — Karṇa’s Battle Formation and the Pāṇḍava Counter-Plan
Adhyāya 31
अस्मदीयाश्र बहव: स्वर्गायोपगता रणे । त्यक्त्वा प्राणान् यथाशक्ति चेष्टां कृत्वा च पुष्कलाम्,'मेरे पक्षके बहुत-से योद्धा विजयके लिये यथाशक्ति पूरी चेष्टा करके रणभूमिमें प्राण त्यागकर स्वर्गलोकको चले गये
asmadīyāś ca bahavaḥ svargāyopagatā raṇe | tyaktvā prāṇān yathāśakti ceṣṭāṃ kṛtvā ca puṣkalām ||
Sanjaya said: Many of our own warriors, having exerted themselves to the best of their power and having made great efforts for victory, abandoned their lives on the battlefield and went to heaven. The line underscores the Kṣatriya ideal that strenuous striving in a righteous battle, even when it ends in death, is regarded as a meritorious passage to the heavenly worlds.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reflects the Mahābhārata’s kṣatriya-ethical frame: sincere, full-strength effort in battle and death faced without retreat is treated as duty fulfilled, and such death is portrayed as leading to svarga. It emphasizes exertion (ceṣṭā) and courage rather than mere outcome.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that many warriors on their side have fallen in the fighting. He characterizes their deaths as occurring after vigorous attempts for victory, and he interprets their fall as a passage to heaven.