Shloka 56
भीमसेनस्य कौरवसुतवधः तथा श्रुतर्वावधः
Slaying of Kaurava princes and the fall of Śrutarvā
धृष्टद्युम्नादहं मुक्त: कथंचिच्छान्तवाहनात् । पतितो माधवानीकं दुष्कृती नरकं॑ यथा,थके हुए वाहनोंवाले धृष्टद्युम्नसे किसी प्रकार छूटा तो मैं सात्यकिकी सेनामें आ फँसा; जैसे कोई पापी नरकमें गिर गया हो
dhṛṣṭadyumnād ahaṃ muktaḥ kathaṃcic chāntavāhanāt | patito mādhavānīkaṃ duṣkṛtī narakaṃ yathā ||
میں تھکے ہوئے سواروں والے دھِرِشتَدیومن سے کسی طرح چھوٹ تو گیا؛ مگر مَادھَو کی فوج میں جا گرا—جیسے کوئی بدکردار دوزخ میں جا پڑے۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield danger in ethical terms: peril can feel like karmic retribution—one may escape a lesser threat only to meet a greater one, as if wrongdoing inevitably leads to its ‘hell-like’ consequence.
Sañjaya reports his predicament: he manages to get free from Dhṛṣṭadyumna, but immediately ends up trapped amid Mādhava’s (Kṛṣṇa-associated) forces—understood here as the contingent led by Sātyaki—describing the transition as a plunge into hell.