सौमदत्तिं तथा क्रुद्धो धृष्टकेतुर् महाबलः ॥
नवत्या सायकैः क्षिप्रं राजन् विव्याध वक्षसि ॥
सौमदत्तिर् उरःस्थैस् तैर् भृशं बाणैर् अशोभत ॥
मध्यंदिने महाराज रश्मिभिस् तपनो यथा ॥
भूरिश्रवास् तु समरे धृष्टकेतुं महारथम् ॥
हतसूतहयं चक्रे विरथं सायकोत्तमैः ॥
विरथं चैनम् आलोक्य हताश्वं हतसारथिम् ॥
महता शरवर्षेण छादयाम् आस संयुगे ॥
स च तं रथम् उत्सृज्य धृष्टकेतुर् महामनाः ॥
आरुरोह ततो यानं शतानीकस्य मारिष ॥
चित्रसेनो विकर्णश् च राजन् दुर्मर्षणस् तथा ॥
रथिनो हेमसंनाहाः सौभद्रम् अभिदुद्रुवुः ॥
अभिमन्योस् ततस् तैस् तु घोरं युद्धम् अवर्तत ॥
शरीरस्य यथा राजन् वातपित्तकफैस् त्रिभिः ॥
विरथांस् तव पुत्रांस् तु कृत्वा राजन् महाहवे ॥
न जघान नरव्याघ्रः स्मरन् भीमवचस् तदा ॥
saumadattiṃ tathā kruddho dhṛṣṭaketur mahābalaḥ ||
navatyā sāyakaiḥ kṣipraṃ rājan vivyādha vakṣasi ||
saumadattir uraḥsthais tair bhṛśaṃ bāṇair aśobhata ||
madhyaṃdine mahārāja raśmibhis tapano yathā ||
bhūriśravās tu samare dhṛṣṭaketuṃ mahāratham ||
hatasūtahayaṃ cakre virathaṃ sāyakottamaiḥ ||
virathaṃ cainam ālokya hatāśvaṃ hatasārathim ||
mahatā śaravarṣeṇa chādayām āsa saṃyuge ||
sa ca taṃ ratham utsṛjya dhṛṣṭaketur mahāmanāḥ ||
āruroha tato yānaṃ śatānīkasya māriṣa ||
citraseno vikarṇaś ca rājan durmarṣaṇas tathā ||
rathino hemasaṃnāhāḥ saubhadram abhidudruvuḥ ||
abhimanyos tatas tais tu ghoraṃ yuddham avartata ||
śarīrasya yathā rājan vātapittakaphais tribhiḥ ||
virathāṃs tava putrāṃs tu kṛtvā rājan mahāhave ||
na jaghāna naravyāghraḥ smaran bhīmavacas tadā ||
Then the mighty Dhrishtaketu, in wrath, swiftly pierced the son of Somadatta in the chest with ninety arrows, O king. The son of Somadatta, with those arrows standing in his chest, shone brilliantly, like the sun with its rays at midday, great king. Bhurishravas, however, in the battle, with his finest arrows deprived the great chariot-warrior Dhrishtaketu of his charioteer, his horses, and his chariot. Seeing him carless, his horses slain, and his charioteer slain, he covered him in the encounter with a great shower of arrows. The great-souled Dhrishtaketu abandoned that chariot and then mounted the vehicle of Shatanika, O worthy one. Chitrasena, Vikarna, and Durmarshana, O king, charioteers clad in golden mail, rushed upon Saubhadra. Then a terrible battle broke out between them and Abhimanyu, like the struggle of the three humors — wind, bile, and phlegm — within the body, O king. In the great battle this tiger among men left your sons carless, but did not slay them, remembering then the words of Bhima."
060dd0f9c26a · published Jul 17, 2026, 9:38:21 PM UTC
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Abhimanyu shows here not only martial power but discipline of memory: he could kill, yet holds back because of Bhima's word. Valor thus becomes not blind destruction but a strength bound by a promise and by duty to an elder.