Shloka 80
अजिशीर्षे प्रातःसंध्यायां संग्रामवर्णनम् / Dawn-Transition Battle at Ajiśīrṣa
Chapter 161
यावत् पार्थशरैघेरिरनिर्मुक्तोरगसंनिभै: । न भस्मीक्रियते राजा तावद् युद्धान्निवार्यताम्,'केंचुलसे छूटे हुए सर्पोके समान अर्जुनके भयंकर बाणोंद्वारा जबतक राजा दुर्योधन भस्म नहीं कर दिया जाता है, तबतक ही उसे युद्धसे रोक दो
yāvat pārtha-śaraiḥ ghoraiḥ anirmuktoraga-sannibhaiḥ | na bhasmīkriyate rājā tāvad yuddhān nivāryatām ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Selama raja belum lagi dijadikan abu oleh anak panah Arjuna yang menggerunkan—bagaikan ular yang baru terlepas dari kulitnya—tahanlah baginda daripada memasuki pertempuran.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights prudent counsel in war: when a leader faces overwhelming danger, restraint and strategic withdrawal can be ethically preferable to reckless persistence that leads to needless destruction.
Sañjaya warns that Arjuna’s arrows are so deadly—likened to serpents shedding their skin—that Duryodhana will be annihilated if he continues; therefore he urges that the king be held back from the fight until the immediate peril passes.