Shloka 146
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
प्राबोधयत पादेन शयनस्थं महीपते । भूपाल! अअभश्वत्थामाने निश्चिन्त एवं निर्भय होकर शय्यापर सोये हुए महामनस्वी धृष्टद्युम्मको पैरसे ठोकर मारकर जगाया,यथैव संसुप्तजने शिबिरे प्राविशन्निशि
prābodhayat pādena śayanasthaṃ mahīpate | bhūpāla! aśvatthāmā niścinta evaṃ nirbhayaḥ śayyāparo soye hue mahāmanasvī dhṛṣṭadyumnako pair se ṭhokar mārakar jagāyā, yathaiva saṃsuptajane śibire prāviśann niśi |
قال سنجيا: أيها الملك، إن أشفَتّامَا—وقد خلا قلبه من الهمّ وامّحى عنه الخوف—أيقظَ ذُرِشْتَديومْنَ ذا الهمة السامية وهو راقدٌ على فراشه، فضربه بقدمه. وعلى النحو نفسه مضى يتخلّل المعسكر ليلًا والناس غارقون في النوم، ليُتمّ مقصده الكالح.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical collapse that occurs when vengeance overrides dharma: attacking and humiliating a sleeping, defenseless opponent is portrayed as a grave moral low point, warning that victory pursued without restraint becomes spiritually and socially corrosive.
Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how Aśvatthāmā, moving through the camp at night while everyone slept, woke Dhṛṣṭadyumna by striking him with his foot—an act of contempt preceding the broader nocturnal slaughter in the Sauptika episode.