Shloka 13
धृतराष्ट्रस्य संजयप्रश्नः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Inquiry to Saṃjaya on Strategic Comparisons
एवं प्रतिष्ठाप्प धनंजयो मां ततोडर्थवद् धर्मवच्चापि वाक्यम् | प्रोवाचेदं वासुदेवं समीक्ष्य पार्थों धीमॉल्लोहितान्तायताक्ष:
evaṁ pratiṣṭhāpya dhanañjayo māṁ tato ’rthavad dharmavac cāpi vākyam | provācedaṁ vāsudevaṁ samīkṣya pārtho dhīmāṁ lohitāntāyatākṣaḥ || śarāgnidhūme rathaneminādite dhanuḥkhuveṇāstrabalaprasāriṇā | yathā na homaḥ kriyate mahāmṛdhe sametya sarve prayatadhvam ādṛtāḥ ||
एवं प्रतिष्ठाप्य धनञ्जयो मां ततोऽर्थवद् धर्मवच्चापि वाक्यम् । प्रोवाचेदं वासुदेवं समीक्ष्य पार्थो धीमान् लोहितान्तायताक्षः— “राजानः! महति युद्धयज्ञे, यत्र शरसंघट्टजः धूमो वह्निधूम इव प्रसर्पति, रथनेमिनादो वेदमन्त्रध्वनिरिव भवति, धनुः खुवेवास्त्रबलप्रसारिणी, तत्र यथा न मया कौरवसैन्यहविषामाहुतिः कर्तव्या स्यात्, तदर्थं यूयं सर्वे समागत्य सादरं प्रयतध्वम्।”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war through the ethical lens of dharma: even when conflict becomes unavoidable, it should be approached with sober purpose and collective effort to prevent needless slaughter. By casting battle as a distorted ‘sacrifice,’ it underscores the gravity of violence and the responsibility to exhaust prudent measures so that destruction does not become the default offering.
Sañjaya reports that Arjuna, after steadying Sañjaya (or having been steadied in the exchange) and then looking at Kṛṣṇa, speaks to assembled kings. He uses an extended yajña metaphor—arrows as fire and smoke, chariot-noise as Vedic chant, the bow as the ladle—to urge earnest, united effort so that he will not have to ‘offer’ the Kaurava forces in the great battle.