Shloka 4
कुरुक्षेत्रे सेनानिवेशवृत्तान्तः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra Questions Saṃjaya on the Deployed Armies
रणयज्ञे प्रवितते सुभीमे लोमहर्षणे | दीक्षितं चिररात्राय श्रुत्वा तत्र युधिष्ठिर:
raṇayajñe pravṛtte subhīme lomaharṣaṇe | dīkṣitaṃ cirarātrāya śrutvā tatra yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | janamejaya uvāca ||
Janamejaya berkata: “Ketika ‘yajña peperangan’ yang amat menggerunkan dan menggetarkan itu telah terbentang, dan Bhīṣma mengambil dikṣā yang panjang untuknya, setelah mendengar hal itu apakah yang dikatakan Yudhiṣṭhira? Apakah kata Bhīma dan Arjuna? Dan bagaimana Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa menyatakan pertimbangannya?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war as a ‘yajña’ requiring vows and resolve, prompting ethical scrutiny: when a revered elder commits himself to a destructive course, righteous leaders must respond with discernment—balancing reverence, duty, and the imperative to minimize adharma and suffering.
Janamejaya asks the narrator to report the responses of Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, and Kṛṣṇa after they learn that Bhīṣma has undertaken a long consecration-like commitment to the impending battle, signaling his firm participation in the Kurukṣetra conflict.