Shloka 23
निमज्जतस्तानथ कर्णसागरे विपन्ननावो वणिजो यथार्णवे । उद्दप्रिरे नौभिरिवार्णवाद् रथै: सुकल्पितैद्रौपदिजा: स्वमातुलान्
sañjaya uvāca |
nimajjatas tān atha karṇasāgare vipannanāvo vaṇijo yathārṇave |
uddapriren naubhir ivārṇavād rathaiḥ sukalpitair draupadijāḥ svamātulān ||
サञ्जयは言った。「大海で舟が難破し沈みかけた商人が、他の舟によって救い上げられるように、ドラウパディーの子らは、武具を整え備えた戦車をもって、カルナという海に沈みかけていた母方の叔父たちを引き上げ、戦場の混乱のただ中から危難を脱させた。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid warfare, dharma expresses itself as protection of one’s own—especially vulnerable allies and kin. The verse frames courage not merely as striking the enemy, but as actively rescuing those in danger, using one’s resources and readiness for the sake of duty.
Sañjaya describes how Draupadī’s sons, in the thick of battle where Karṇa is portrayed as a vast, perilous ‘ocean,’ come to the aid of their maternal uncles (the Pāñcāla side). With well-prepared chariots, they extract them from imminent defeat, like boats saving shipwrecked merchants.