Shloka 12
अमोघशक्तिव्यंसनप्रश्नः — Why Karṇa’s Śakti Was Not Used on Arjuna
संजय! तुम पाण्डवोंको तो हर्ष और उत्साहसे युक्त, आगे बढ़नेवाले और संतुष्ट बताते हो और मेरे सैनिकोंको दुःखी एवं युद्धसे विमुख बताया करते हो ।। कथमेषां तदा तत्र पार्थानामपलायिनाम् | प्रकाशमभवद्ू रात्रौ कथं कुरुषु संजय,सूत! युद्धसे पीछे न हटनेवाले इन कुन्तीकुमारोंके दलमें रातके समय कैसे प्रकाश हुआ और कौरवदलमें भी किस प्रकार उजाला सम्भव हुआ?
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
sañjaya! tvaṃ pāṇḍavān tu harṣotsāhayuktān abhyudyatān saṃtuṣṭān ca vadāsi, mama sainyān tu duḥkhitān yuddhavimukhān ca varṇayasi ||
katham eṣāṃ tadā tatra pārthānām apalāyinām |
prakāśam abhavad rātrau kathaṃ kuruṣu sañjaya, sūta! ||
ドリタラーシュトラは言った。「サンジャヤよ、汝はパーンダヴァらを歓喜と闘志に満ち—前へ進み満ち足りている—と語り、我が軍を苦悩し戦から背くものとして述べる。ならばその時その場で、逃げぬパールタらの陣に、夜のうちいかにして光が生じたのか。さらにクル族の陣にも、いかにして明るさがあり得たのか。車夫の子サンジャヤよ。」
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how morale and inner resolve shape one’s reading of events: Dhṛtarāṣṭra, anxious and partisan, challenges Sañjaya’s report that the Pāṇḍavas are confident while his own forces are dispirited, and he seeks an explanation for an extraordinary ‘light in the night’—suggesting that omens and psychological states both influence ethical judgment in war.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra interrogates Sañjaya about a nighttime occurrence: despite darkness, some illumination appeared among the steadfast Pāṇḍava forces, and he asks how a similar brightness could occur among the Kuru/Kaurava host. The question frames a report of unusual battlefield conditions or omens during the Drona Parva fighting.