Shloka 25
Droṇa’s Defensive Stand and Abhimanyu Commissioned to Breach the Cakravyūha (द्रोणानीक-प्रतिरोधः; सौभद्र-नियोजनम्)
तावकानां परेषां च मृत्युं कृत्वा निवर्तनम्,तदनन्तर “मरनेपर ही युद्धसे निवृत्त होंगे” ऐसा निश्चय करके आपके और शशत्रुपक्षके योद्धाओंमें अत्यन्त भयंकर युद्ध आरम्भ हुआ, जो रोंगटे खड़े कर देनेवाला था
tāvakānāṃ pareṣāṃ ca mṛtyuṃ kṛtvā nivartanam | tad-anantaraṃ “maraṇepara hi yuddhase nivṛtta bhaviṣyāmaḥ” iti niścayaṃ kṛtvā tava ca śatru-pakṣasya ca yoddheṣu atyanta-bhayaṅkaraṃ yuddham ārabdhaṃ yat roma-harṣaṇaṃ āsīt |
サञ्जयは語った。汝の兵にも敵にも、退く道はただ死を代価としてのみ開かれると定め、彼らは「死してのちにのみ戦を止める」と心を一点に据えた。すると汝の戦士と敵軍との間に、身の毛もよだつほどの凄絶な激戦が勃発した。それは、誇りと復讐が自制を呑み込むとき、戦が要求しうる“全身全霊の献身”という冷酷な掟を露わにしたのである。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, a hardened resolve—“we stop only with death”—can override humane restraint. It implicitly warns that when victory is pursued without limits, ethical judgment narrows to mere survival and destruction.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that both sides’ warriors, determined not to withdraw except through death, plunge into an intensely terrifying engagement, marking a severe escalation in the fighting during the Drona Parva.