Shloka 52
राजन् बलेन द्वयड्रेन त्यक्त्वा जीवितमात्मन: । आत्मना पज्चमो<्युद्धयं पाउ्चालस्य बलेन ह,आपकी सेनाके अधिकांश योद्धाओंका मुख उदास हो गया। उन सबके आयुध नष्ट हो गये थे और वे चारों ओरसे घिर गये थे। राजन! उन सबकी वैसी अवस्था देख मैं जीवनका मोह छोड़कर अन्य चार महारथियोंको साथ ले हाथी और घोड़े दो अंगोंवाली सेनासे मिलकर धृष्टद्युम्नकी सेनाके साथ युद्ध करने लगा
sañjaya uvāca | rājan balena dvyaṅgena tyaktvā jīvitam ātmanaḥ | ātmanā pañcamo 'bhyuddhyaṃ pāñcālasya balena ha |
Sañjaya said: O King, having cast aside concern for my own life, I—together with four other great chariot-warriors as the fifth—joined battle against the Pāñcāla host, even though our force was only two-limbed (elephants and horses). Seeing most of your warriors downcast, their weapons destroyed and themselves surrounded on all sides, I entered the fight with a resolve that placed duty and loyalty above self-preservation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior’s ethic of duty and steadfastness: when one’s side is demoralized, disarmed, and surrounded, the response praised here is resolve—renouncing attachment to personal safety and acting in loyalty to one’s charge, even against superior forces.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, seeing the Kaurava fighters overwhelmed and dispirited, he personally entered the fray as the fifth among four other great chariot-warriors, fighting the Pāñcāla forces with a reduced ‘two-limbed’ contingent (elephants and horses).