Shloka 19
रथर्षभाणां सर्वेषां कथमासीत् तदा मन: । बालं त्वां परिवार्यक॑ मम दुःखाय जघ्नुषाम्,“आप बालक थे और अकेले युद्ध कर रहे थे तो भी मुझे दुःख देनेके लिये जिन लोगोंने मिलकर आपको मारा था, उन समस्त श्रेष्ठ महारथियोंके मनकी उस समय क्या दशा हुई थी?
ratharṣabhāṇāṁ sarveṣāṁ katham āsīt tadā manaḥ | bālaṁ tvāṁ parivārya kaṁ mama duḥkhāya jaghnuṣām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “What was the state of mind, at that time, of all those foremost chariot-warriors—who, to my sorrow, surrounded you though you were but a boy and struck you down?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral inquiry into wartime conduct: even celebrated warriors are judged by their inner intention and conscience when they commit an act seen as dishonorable—killing a lone, youthful fighter by surrounding him.
Vaiśampāyana reports a question about the Kurukṣetra war episode where leading chariot-warriors collectively encircled and killed a young combatant (understood as Abhimanyu). The speaker asks what those warriors were thinking and feeling at that moment.