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 disse: No auge da batalha, seu inimigo, feroz e implacável, forçou-o a uma volta à esquerda, tida por infausta. Incapaz de suportar tal afronta no campo, ele retaliou fazendo o outro também voltar à esquerda, respondendo à humilhação com um contragolpe na violência regida pelo dharma da guerra.
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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