Shloka 44
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
तस्मिन् विनिहते वीरे द्रोणपुत्र: प्रतापवान् । आरुरोह रथं तूर्ण तमेव रथिनां वर:,उस वीरके मारे जानेपर रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ प्रतापी द्रोणपुत्र अश्वत्थामा तुरंत ही उसी रथपर आरूढ़ हो गया
tasmin vinihate vīre droṇaputraḥ pratāpavān | ārurōha rathaṁ tūrṇaṁ tameva rathināṁ varaḥ ||
サンジャヤは言った。その勇士が討たれるや、ドローナの子にして勇猛なるアシュヴァッターマ――車戦の士の中でも第一の者――は、たちまちその同じ戦車に乗り移った。この一瞬は、戦の渦中では一人の覇者の死が直ちに指揮と勢いの移り変わりを招き、武人たちが戦略の利を奪わんと急ぐこと、しかも戦場に横たわる死の道義的重みを背負いながら進むことを示している。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the relentless continuity of warfare: even as a hero falls, another immediately assumes position to sustain the battle effort. Ethically, it reflects the tension between strategic necessity (seizing the chariot and initiative) and the sobering reality that death becomes a pivot for further action rather than a pause for grief.
After a certain warrior is killed, Aśvatthāmā—Drona’s son, famed among chariot-fighters—quickly climbs onto that same chariot, indicating a rapid takeover of the vehicle and its tactical role in the ongoing combat.