Shloka 87
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
कोष्ठकीकृत्य चाप्येनं परिक्षिप्य च सर्वश: । शस्त्रैर्ननाविधैर्जष्नुर्युद्धपारं तितीर्षव:,तब विजयाभिलाषी पाण्डवोंने भी तुरंत उसपर धावा कर दिया। पाण्डव युद्धसे पार होना चाहते थे; अतः उनके पैदल, हाथीसवार और घुड़सवार सभी हथियार उठाये आगे बढ़े तथा शकुनिको सब ओरसे घेरकर उसे कोष्ठबद्ध करके नाना प्रकारके शत्त्रोंद्वारा घायल करने लगे
koṣṭhakīkṛtya cāpy enaṃ parikṣipya ca sarvaśaḥ | śastrair nānāvidhair jaghnur yuddhapāraṃ titīrṣavaḥ ||
พวกเขาล้อมเขาไว้ดุจขังในคอกปิด ม้วนวงล้อมจากทุกทิศ แล้วฟาดฟันด้วยศัสตรานานาชนิด—เหล่าวีรชนผู้มุ่งข้ามพ้นกระแสอันน่ากลัวแห่งสงคราม
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a grim ethical reality of war: when victory becomes the primary objective, combat shifts from individual valor to collective overpowering. It implicitly invites reflection on how strategic necessity can eclipse ideals of fair combat, even within a dharma-framed battlefield.
Sañjaya narrates that a group of warriors surround a single opponent from all sides, confining him as if in a pen, and then strike him with many kinds of weapons, driven by the urgency to push through and reach the ‘far shore’—the decisive end—of the battle.