ततः समभवद् युद्धम् आकुलं भरतर्षभ ॥
पाञ्चालानां च सर्वेषां भारतानां च दारुणम् ॥
शैनेयस् तु रणे क्रुद्धस् तव पुत्रं महारथम् ॥
सायकानाम् अशीत्या तु विव्याधोरसि भारत ॥
ततो ऽस्य वाहान् समरे शरैर् निन्ये यमक्षयम् ॥
सारथिं च रथात् तूर्णं पातयाम् आस पत्रिणा ॥
हताश्वे तु रथे तिष्ठन् पुत्रस् तव विशां पते ॥
मुमोच निशितान् बाणाञ् शैनेयस्य रथं प्रति ॥
tataḥ samabhavad yuddham ākulaṃ bharatarṣabha ||
pāñcālānāṃ ca sarveṣāṃ bhāratānāṃ ca dāruṇam ||
śaineyas tu raṇe kruddhas tava putraṃ mahāratham ||
sāyakānām aśītyā tu vivyādhorasi bhārata ||
tato 'sya vāhān samare śarair ninye yamakṣayam ||
sārathiṃ ca rathāt tūrṇaṃ pātayām āsa patriṇā ||
hatāśve tu rathe tiṣṭhan putras tava viśāṃ pate ||
mumoca niśitān bāṇāñ śaineyasya rathaṃ prati ||
Then a battle broke out, chaotic, O bull among the Bharatas, terrible among all the Panchalas and among the Bharatas. And Shaineya, enraged in the fight, pierced your son, the great warrior, in the chest with eighty arrows, O Bharata. Then he sent his horses in the fight to Yama's abode with arrows, and swiftly struck down the charioteer from the chariot with a feathered arrow. Standing on the chariot whose horses were slain, your son, O lord of peoples, released sharp arrows toward the chariot of Shaineya.
58f954526629 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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Duryodhana, deprived of horses and charioteer, does not flee but, standing on the motionless chariot, continues to strike. This persistence is significant: even immobilized, he fights on. The verse teaches that courage shows itself in a hopeless position: when mobility and all hope of escape are taken away, only two things remain -- to surrender or to stand and strike to the end; and standing firm where there is nowhere to retreat is a particular, desperate measure of warrior resolve.