Shloka 48
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
तेषां प्रद्रवतां भीम: पज्चालानामितस्तत:
teṣāṁ pradravatāṁ bhīmaḥ pāñcālānām itas tataḥ
サञ्जयは語った。「パーンチャーラ軍が混乱のうちに逃げ散ると、ビーマはその中をこちらへあちらへと駆け巡り、潰走をさらに押し広げ、退却の恐慌をいっそう深めた——戦において一度隊列が崩れれば、恐れが軍勢全体へと伝染してゆくことを示す光景であった。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a practical ethical insight of the epic’s war narrative: once discipline collapses, fear multiplies and a retreat can become a rout; therefore leaders and warriors must preserve steadiness and order, since panic harms not only the individual but the whole host.
Sañjaya reports that the Pāñcālas are fleeing, and Bhīma is moving “here and there” among them—suggesting vigorous pursuit and battlefield pressure during a moment of disarray.