Shloka 18

Devanagari script

दृष्टवा द्रोणाय पाज्चाल्यं व्रजन्तं युद्धदुर्मदम्‌ । यमाभ्यां तांश्व संसक्तांस्तदन्तरमुपाद्रवत्‌

Transliteration

dṛṣṭvā droṇāya pāñcālyaṃ vrajantaṃ yuddha-durmadam | yamābhyāṃ tāṃś ca saṃsaktāṃs tad-antaram upādravat ||

Translation

दृष्ट्वा द्रोणाय पाञ्चाल्यं व्रजन्तं युद्धदुर्मदम् । यमाभ्यां तांश्च संसक्तान् तदन्तरमुपाद्रवत् ॥

Word by Word

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

द्रोणायto Drona

पाञ्चाल्यम्the Panchala prince (Dhrishtadyumna)

व्रजन्तम्going, proceeding

युद्ध-दुर्मदम्maddened by battle / battle-intoxicated

यमाभ्याम्with two restraints (yamas) / with two checks

तान्those (men)

चand

संसक्तान्engaged, closely attached/locked (in fight)

तत्-अन्तरम्that interval / the gap between them

उपाद्रवत्ran up, rushed towards

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Droṇa

Pāñcālya (Pāñcāla warrior)

Yamau (the twin Yamas)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war inflames the mind (yuddha-durmadam), and how, in such a morally fraught arena, warriors act with swift opportunism—charging into even a momentary opening. It implicitly cautions that battle-frenzy can eclipse restraint, making ethical clarity harder to maintain.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a Pāñcāla warrior rushing toward Droṇa in battle-fury. At the same time, fighters are tightly engaged between the twin warriors called the Yamau; seeing the gap created in that engagement, someone (the subject implied by upādravat) charges into that interval.