Shloka 24
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
न त्वेवाहं न गमिष्यामि मध्ये तेषां शूराणामिति मां शल्य विद्धि | मित्रद्रोहो मर्षणीयो न मे<5यं त्यक्त्वा प्राणाननुयास्यामि द्रोणम्
na tvevāhaṃ na gamiṣyāmi madhye teṣāṃ śūrāṇām iti māṃ śalya viddhi | mitradroho marṣaṇīyo na me ’yaṃ tyaktvā prāṇān anuyāsyāmi droṇam ||
三阇耶说道：“舍利耶啊，莫以为我不会闯入那些英雄的阵中。若从战场退却，便是背叛友人；而此等背叛于我不可忍受。故而纵以性命为代价，我也要追随德罗纳。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames loyalty as a binding ethical duty: withdrawing from the fight would amount to mitradroha (betrayal of a friend/ally), which the speaker declares unbearable. Honor is presented as weightier than personal survival, so he chooses to follow Droṇa even at the cost of life.
In the Karṇa Parva context, Sañjaya reports a warrior’s resolve addressed to Śalya: he rejects the idea that he will stay away from the press of heroes, insists that retreat would be disloyalty, and declares his intention to follow Droṇa, accepting death if necessary.