Shloka 52
भीमसेनस्य कौरवसुतवधः तथा श्रुतर्वावधः
Slaying of Kaurava princes and the fall of Śrutarvā
राजन् बलेन द्वयड्रेन त्यक्त्वा जीवितमात्मन: । आत्मना पज्चमो<्युद्धयं पाउ्चालस्य बलेन ह
sañjaya uvāca | rājan balena dvyaṅgena tyaktvā jīvitam ātmanaḥ | ātmanā pañcamo 'bhyuddhyaṃ pāñcālasya balena ha |
サンジャヤは言った。王よ、我が身の命への顧慮を捨て、私は四人の大車戦士とともに（我は第五として）パーンチャーラ軍に挑んだ。たとえ我らの兵は「二部隊」――象隊と馬隊――のみであっても。汝の兵の多くが沈み、武器を失い、四方から囲まれているのを見て、私は義務と忠誠を自己の生存より上に置く決意をもって戦いに入った。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior’s ethic of duty and steadfastness: when one’s side is demoralized, disarmed, and surrounded, the response praised here is resolve—renouncing attachment to personal safety and acting in loyalty to one’s charge, even against superior forces.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, seeing the Kaurava fighters overwhelmed and dispirited, he personally entered the fray as the fifth among four other great chariot-warriors, fighting the Pāñcāla forces with a reduced ‘two-limbed’ contingent (elephants and horses).