ततः कृतज्ञा बलिनः सुहृदो जितकाशिनः ॥
त्रास्यमाना भयाद् वीरं परिवव्रुस् तवात्मजम् ॥
द्रोणो द्रौणिः कृपः कर्णः कृतवर्मा च सौबलः ॥
बृहद्बलो मद्रराजो भूरिर् भूरिश्रवाः शलः ॥
पौरवो वृषसेनश् च विसृजन्तः शिताञ् शरान् ॥
सौभद्रं शरवर्षेण महता समवाकिरन् ॥
tataḥ kṛtajñā balinaḥ suhṛdo jitakāśinaḥ ||
trāsyamānā bhayād vīraṃ parivavrus tavātmajam ||
droṇo drauṇiḥ kṛpaḥ karṇaḥ kṛtavarmā ca saubalaḥ ||
bṛhadbalo madrarājo bhūrir bhūriśravāḥ śalaḥ ||
pauravo vṛṣasenaś ca visṛjantaḥ śitāñ śarān ||
saubhadraṃ śaravarṣeṇa mahatā samavākiran ||
Then his grateful, mighty companions, radiant with victory, alarmed with dread for the king, surrounded and shielded your son, the warrior Duryodhana. Drona, the son of Drona, Kripa, Karna, and Kritavarman, the son of Subala, Brihadbala, the king of the Madras, Bhuri, Bhurishravas, Shala, Paurava, and Vrishasena, loosing sharp arrows, covered Abhimanyu with a great shower of shafts.
ca67025f5795 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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A dozen renowned warriors — Drona, Karna, Kripa, Ashvatthaman, and the rest — fall upon a single boy. The very list of names betrays the disproportion: the flower of the enemy host against a child. It is telling that the companions are called "grateful" — their loyalty to Duryodhana is sincere, yet given over to an evil deed. The verse teaches that even noble qualities — loyalty, gratitude, valor — can be placed in service of the unjust, and then their very strength multiplies the wrong; that the disproportion of a dozen mighty men against one boy is dishonor, however valiant these men may be; and that the tradition, naming the attackers one by one, forever enters them into this tale as accomplices in the crime — for memory honors not only feats, but also remembers guilt.