Shloka 16
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
युद्धस्थलमें अत्यन्त बलवान् नरेशोंको सारथि, रथ और हाथियोंसहित शत्रुओंद्वारा मारा गया देखकर भी महान् अस्त्रवेत्ता ब्राह्मणशिरोमणि आचार्य द्रोणने रणभूमिमें समस्त शत्रुओंका वध क्यों नहीं कर डाला? ।।
yuddhasthale atyanta-balavān nareśān sārathi-ratha-hasti-sahitān śatrubhir māritān dṛṣṭvāpi mahān astravettā brāhmaṇa-śiromaṇir ācāryo droṇo raṇabhūmau samastān śatrūn kathaṁ na vyapātayat? sa saṁsmaran droṇam ahaṁ mahāhave bravīmi satyaṁ kuravo nibodhata | na vā mad-anyaḥ prasahed raṇe 'rjunam samāgataṁ mṛtyum ivogra-rūpiṇam ||
サンジャヤは言った。戦場において、きわめて剛勇なる諸王が、御者・戦車・戦象もろとも敵に討たれるのを見ながら、なぜ至高の武器の達人にして婆羅門の珠、師ドローナは、陣上の敵をことごとく滅ぼさなかったのか。あの大合戦で討たれたドローナを偲び、私は真実を語る——クル族よ、心して聞け。私を除いて、戦場でアルジュナの猛威に耐えられる者はいない。彼が進み出るとき、それは恐るべき姿の死そのもののようだ。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the overwhelming, almost inevitable force of a supreme warrior in war: Arjuna’s advance is portrayed as ‘Death’ itself, suggesting that even great masters like Drona were constrained—by circumstance, strategy, and the limits of human agency—despite their skill.
Sanjaya addresses the Kauravas, reflecting on Drona’s fall and responding to the implied question of why Drona did not annihilate all enemies. He asserts that Arjuna’s battlefield momentum is so terrifying that virtually no one can withstand him.