Mahabharata 7.189.52 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 189, Shloka 52
माद्रीपुत्र नकुलने आपके पुत्र दुर्योधनको दाहिने कर दिया और हर्षमें भरकर उसपर सैकड़ों बाणोंकी झड़ी लगा दी; फिर तो वहाँ महान् कोलाहल हुआ ।।
apasavyaṁ kṛtaṁ saṅkhye bhrātṛvyenātyamarṣiṇā | nāmṛṣyata tam apy ājau praticakre ’pasavyatāḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: Di tengah pertempuran, musuhnya yang garang dan tidak mengenal belas kasihan memaksanya berpaling ke kiri—suatu putaran yang dianggap sial. Tidak sanggup menanggung penghinaan itu di medan laga, dia membalas dengan memaksa pihak lawan juga berpaling ke kiri—membayar malu dengan serangan balas dalam kekerasan yang terikat adat perang.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, perceived dishonour provokes immediate retaliation; it implicitly questions the ethical spiral where affront and counter-affront replace restraint, even within a dharma-framed battlefield.
During combat, an enemy forces a warrior into an inauspicious leftward turn (apasavya). The warrior cannot bear it and responds by turning the opponent leftward in return—an act of countering humiliation with a matching manoeuvre.
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