एवं संकथयन्तौ तौ प्रविष्टौ शिबिरं स्वकम् ॥
ददृशाते भृशास्वस्थान् पाण्डवान् नष्टचेतसः ॥
दृष्ट्वा भ्रातॄंश् च पुत्रांश् च विमना वानरध्वजः ॥
अपश्यंश् चैव सौभद्रम् इदं वचनम् अब्रवीत् ॥
मुखवर्णो ऽप्रसन्नो वः सर्वेषाम् एव लक्ष्यते ॥
न चाभिमन्युं पश्यामि न च मां प्रतिनन्दथ ॥
evaṃ saṃkathayantau tau praviṣṭau śibiraṃ svakam ||
dadṛśāte bhṛśāsvasthān pāṇḍavān naṣṭacetasaḥ ||
dṛṣṭvā bhrātṝṃś ca putrāṃś ca vimanā vānaradhvajaḥ ||
apaśyaṃś caiva saubhadram idaṃ vacanam abravīt ||
mukhavarṇo 'prasanno vaḥ sarveṣām eva lakṣyate ||
na cābhimanyuṃ paśyāmi na ca māṃ pratinandatha ||
So conversing, both entered their own camp and saw the Pandavas deeply stricken, their minds lost in grief. Having beheld brothers and sons, and not seeing the son of Subhadra, the monkey-bannered one, downcast, spoke these words: "The hue of your faces is joyless, as I see, in all of you. And Abhimanyu I do not see, and you do not welcome me."
feeb9226f6da · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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Arjuna's words are painfully simple: "na ca abhimanyuṃ paśyāmi na ca māṃ pratinandatha" — "I do not see Abhimanyu, and you do not welcome me." Two absences are named together: the one he seeks with his eyes is gone, and there is no joy in those who remain. "Naṣṭacetasaḥ", "stricken in mind", says more of the Pandavas than any lament could. It is telling that the father still asks, though his heart already knows. The verse teaches that there is a moment between foreboding and the news, when love lingers at the threshold of the truth, unable to cross it.