यो हि भोज्ये पुरस्कार्यो यानेषु शयनेषु च ॥
भूषणेषु च सो ऽस्माभिर् बालो युधि पुरस्कृतः ॥
कथं हि बालस् तरुणो युद्धानाम् अविशारदः ॥
सदश्व इव संबाधे विषमे क्षेमम् अर्हति ॥
नो चेद् धि वयम् अप्य् एनं महीम् अनुशयीमहि ॥
बीभत्सोः कोपदीप्तस्य दग्धाः कृपणचक्षुषा ॥
yo hi bhojye puraskāryo yāneṣu śayaneṣu ca ||
bhūṣaṇeṣu ca so 'smābhir bālo yudhi puraskṛtaḥ ||
kathaṃ hi bālas taruṇo yuddhānām aviśāradaḥ ||
sadaśva iva saṃbādhe viṣame kṣemam arhati ||
no ced dhi vayam apy enaṃ mahīm anuśayīmahi ||
bībhatsoḥ kopadīptasya dagdhāḥ kṛpaṇacakṣuṣā ||
"He who should be honored first at table, in outings, on couches, and in finery — him, a child, we thrust foremost into battle. How then could a child, young, unversed in combats, like a fine horse in a deadly defile, reach safety? And if not — we too shall lie on the ground, scorched by the pitiless glance of Bibhatsu, blazing with fury."
19ea84cee7bf · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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The list of things in which the boy ought to have been "placed first" — food, couches, finery — lays bare the perversity: a child whose place was in comfort and honor was sent first into the line of fire. The image "sadaśvaḥ iva saṃbādhe viṣame", "like a fine horse in a deadly defile", is exact: pedigree does not save where the very place is fatal. And close behind comes the fear of "kopadīptasya bībhatsoḥ kṛpaṇacakṣuṣā", the gaze of Arjuna that will "scorch" the guilty. The verse teaches that overturning the natural order — placing the defenseless where the strong belong — brings retribution upon itself.