Shloka 3636
अभिमन्युवधः
Abhimanyu’s Fall and the Battlefield Aftermath
विव्यधुस्तं महेष्वासं समरे छिद्रदर्शिन: । समरांगणमें छिद्र देखनेवाले योद्धा 'जान पड़ता है यह मेरे ही ऊपर तलवार लिये टूटा पड़ता है” इस आशंकासे ऊपरकी ओर दृष्टि करके महाधनुर्धर अभिमन्युको बींधने लगे
vivyadhus taṁ maheṣvāsaṁ samare chidradarśinaḥ |
サञ्जयは語った。戦場において隙を見抜くことに長けた戦士たちは、その大弓の勇者を打ち、貫いた。「剣を振り上げて、こちらへ斬りかかってくるのでは」と疑い、恐れに目を上げて、偉大なる弓手アビマンニュを傷つけ始めた—戦とは、恐怖と付け入る心が、公正よりも一瞬の隙を狙わせるものだという姿である。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral tension in warfare: instead of honoring fair combat, fighters who 'see openings' exploit fear and momentary vulnerability. It implicitly critiques opportunistic violence that departs from kṣatriya ideals of straightforward, honorable battle.
Sañjaya narrates that, amid the fight, warriors watching for a gap pierce a great archer—identified in the contextual prose as Abhimanyu—after suspecting he is charging at them with sword raised; they look upward and then strike him.