संजय उवाच
राजन् संग्रामम् आश्चर्यं शृणु कीर्तयतो मम ॥
कुरूणां पाण्डवानां च यथा युद्धम् अवर्तत ॥
भारद्वाजं समासाद्य व्यूहस्य प्रमुखे स्थितम् ॥
अयोधयन् रणे पार्था द्रोणानीकं बिभित्सवः ॥
रक्षमाणाः स्वकं व्यूहं द्रोणस्यापि च सैनिकाः ॥
अयोधयन् रणे पार्थान् प्रार्थयन्तो महद् यशः ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
rājan saṃgrāmam āścaryaṃ śṛṇu kīrtayato mama ||
kurūṇāṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ ca yathā yuddham avartata ||
bhāradvājaṃ samāsādya vyūhasya pramukhe sthitam ||
ayodhayan raṇe pārthā droṇānīkaṃ bibhitsavaḥ ||
rakṣamāṇāḥ svakaṃ vyūhaṃ droṇasyāpi ca sainikāḥ ||
ayodhayan raṇe pārthān prārthayanto mahad yaśaḥ ||
O king, listen to the wondrous battle as I tell it — how the fight went between the Kurus and the Pandavas. Approaching Drona, who stood at the head of the array, the Pandavas fought in battle, wishing to break through Drona's formation; and Drona's soldiers, guarding their own array, fought the Pandavas in battle, seeking great glory.
4ee8b0301796 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:52:56 PM UTC
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Both sides fight 'prārthayantaḥ mahat yaśaḥ,' seeking great glory. But glory won in fratricide is a phantom. It is telling that the very same thirst for a name drives both those who break the wrongful array and those who guard it: what differs is not the ardor but the rightness of the cause. The verse teaches that valor and the thirst for glory are common to all combatants, and what decides between them is not fervor but which side holds the truth; for 'yaśas,' glory won for a righteous cause, is blessed, while glory won for an unrighteous one only hastens ruin.