Shloka 15
Abhimanyu’s Śrāddha; Vyāsa’s Assurance of the Unborn Heir (अभिमन्योः श्राद्धं तथा गर्भरक्षणोपदेशः)
स्पर्धते सम रणे नित्यं दुहितु: पुत्रको मम | “मेरी बेटीका वह लाड़ला अभिमन्यु रणभूमिमें सदा द्रोणाचार्य
spardhate sama-raṇe nityaṁ duhituḥ putrako mama | evaṁvidhaṁ bahu tadā vilapantaṁ suduḥkhitam |
वैशम्पायन उवाच— मम दुहितुः पुत्रकोऽयं समरे नित्यं समस्पर्धते स्म। द्रोणभीष्मकर्णादिभिः बलवतां श्रेष्ठैः सहापि शस्त्राणि समाहर्तुं धैर्यमस्यासीत्। कच्चिद् द्रोणः कर्णः कृपश्चान्ये च समागम्य कपटेन तं बालं निहत्य, वञ्चितघातेन हतोऽसौ भूमौ शयितो न वा? केशव, एतत् सर्वं मम ब्रूहि। इत्येवंविधं बहु तदा सुदुःखितो विललाप।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage contrasts righteous, fair combat (sama-raṇa) with the moral stain of deceitful killing. It highlights how adharma in war—especially collective, treacherous violence against a lone youth—becomes a source of enduring grief and ethical questioning.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates a lament in which a grieving speaker recalls Abhimanyu’s fearless readiness to face even the greatest warriors and suspects that senior fighters (Droṇa, Karṇa, Kṛpa and others) may have killed him through stratagem. He appeals to Keśava (Kṛṣṇa) to disclose the truth, and continues lamenting in intense sorrow.