Shloka 296
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
व्याक्रोशन् क्षत्रिया: सर्वे धृष्टद्युम्नस्य भारत । भरतनन्दन! अपने राजाको मारा गया देख धूृष्टद्युम्नकी सेनाके सारे क्षत्रिय अत्यन्त शोकमें मग्न हो आर्तस्वरसे विलाप करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | vyākrośan kṣatriyāḥ sarve dhṛṣṭadyumnasya bhārata | bharatanandana! ātmanaḥ rājānaṃ hataṃ dṛṣṭvā dhṛṣṭadyumnasenāyāḥ sarve kṣatriyā atyantaśoke magna ārtasvarena vilapire |
قال سنجيا: «يا بهاراتا، إن جميع الكشاتريا في جيش دِرِشْتَديومنَ، لما رأوا ملكهم صريعًا، غمرهم حزن شديد. يا بهجة آل بهاراتا، صاحوا وناحوا بأصوات مخنوقة بالألم.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and emotional fallout of warfare: the death of a leader—especially amid night-time slaughter—does not end with victory or defeat but spreads collective suffering, destabilizing the social and moral order that kshatriyas are meant to protect.
After Dhrishtadyumna has been killed, his warriors witness their king’s death and respond with loud cries and anguished lamentation, signaling shock, grief, and the collapse of their immediate resolve.