Shloka 17
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Anxiety and Bhīṣma’s Theological Explanation of Pāṇḍava Invincibility
Book 6, Chapter 61
पत्तिसड्घा रणे पत्तीन् भिन्दिपालपरश्वधथैः । न्यपातयन्त संहृष्टा: परस्परकृतागस:,हर्ष और उल्लासमें भरकर एक-दूसरेका अपराध करनेवाले पैदलसमूह विपक्षके पैदल सैनिकोंको भिन्दिपाल और फरसोंसे मार-मारकर रणभूमिमें गिरा रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca | pattisaṅghā raṇe pattīn bhindipāla-paraśvadhaiḥ | nyapātayanta saṁhṛṣṭāḥ paraspara-kṛtāgasaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In the battle, bands of foot-soldiers—exultant and inflamed—struck down the opposing infantry, felling them on the field with bhindipālas (javelins) and paraśvadhās (battle-axes). In their mutual hostility, each side treated the other as an offender, and the clash of wrongdoing fed the frenzy of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how mutual hostility in war quickly turns into a cycle where each side views the other as culpable, and exhilaration (saṁhṛṣa) can accompany violence—an ethical warning about how conflict normalizes wrongdoing and intensifies aggression.
Sañjaya describes infantry units on the battlefield striking down opposing foot-soldiers using bhindipālas (javelins) and paraśvadhās (axes), causing many to fall in the fighting.