Shloka 36
Ulūpī–Citravāhinī Saṃvāda: Dhanaṃjaya-patana and Prāya-threat
व्यायम्य संयुगे राजा दृष्टवा च पितरं हतम्
Vaiśampāyana uvāca — vyāyamya saṃyuge rājā dṛṣṭvā ca pitaraṃ hatam | rājā babhruvāhanaḥ yuddhasthale mahān vyāyāmaṃ kṛtvā alabhata | sa cārjunabāṇasaṃghātaiḥ pūrvam eva bahuviddhaḥ āsīt | ataḥ pitaraṃ hataṃ dṛṣṭvā sa api yuddhamukhe mūrcchitaḥ papāta, pṛthivīm āliṅgituṃ pravavṛte ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Nachdem er sich im Kampf verausgabt hatte und seinen Vater erschlagen sah, brach König Babhruvāhana—der auf dem Schlachtfeld mit größter Anstrengung gekämpft und bereits durch Arjunas Pfeilsalven schwer verwundet worden war—am Rand des Gefechts ohnmächtig zusammen. Von Schock und Erschöpfung überwältigt, fiel er zu Boden und klammerte sich an die Erde.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical cost of warfare: even when combat follows kṣatriya-dharma, the killing of kin can produce overwhelming remorse and collapse. It implicitly warns that victory in battle does not erase the moral and emotional consequences of violence.
Babhruvāhana has fought strenuously and is already badly wounded by Arjuna’s arrows. When he sees his father slain, he is overcome by shock, faints at the battlefront, falls to the ground, and clings to the earth in grief.