Shloka 87
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
कोष्ठकीकृत्य चाप्येनं परिक्षिप्य च सर्वश: । शस्त्रैर्ननाविधैर्जष्नुर्युद्धपारं तितीर्षव:
koṣṭhakīkṛtya cāpy enaṃ parikṣipya ca sarvaśaḥ | śastrair nānāvidhair jaghnur yuddhapāraṃ titīrṣavaḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: Setelah mereka mengepungnya seakan-akan di dalam kurungan yang tertutup, dan mengelilinginya dari segala arah, mereka pun menghentamnya dengan senjata pelbagai jenis—para pahlawan yang bertekad menyeberangi arus bahaya peperangan.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a grim ethical reality of war: when victory becomes the primary objective, combat shifts from individual valor to collective overpowering. It implicitly invites reflection on how strategic necessity can eclipse ideals of fair combat, even within a dharma-framed battlefield.
Sañjaya narrates that a group of warriors surround a single opponent from all sides, confining him as if in a pen, and then strike him with many kinds of weapons, driven by the urgency to push through and reach the ‘far shore’—the decisive end—of the battle.