Shloka 266
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
उन्मत्तमिव तत् सर्व बभूव रजनीमुखे । राजन्! उस अन्धकाराच्छन्न प्रदेशमें अपने और परायेकी पहचान नहीं होती थी। उस प्रदोषकालमें सब कुछ उन्मत्त-सा जान पड़ता था
unmattam iva tat sarvaṁ babhūva rajanīmukhe | rājan, andhakārācchanna-pradeśe sva-para-bhedo na prajñāyate sma | tasmin pradoṣa-kāle sarvaṁ kim api unmattam iva pratibhāti sma |
Sañjaya sprach: „O König, beim Herannahen der Nacht schien alles wie von Raserei ergriffen. In jener von Dunkel verhüllten Gegend konnte niemand Freund von Feind unterscheiden; in dieser Dämmerstunde erschien alles verworren und wie aus der Ordnung geraten.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how darkness and turmoil distort perception, erasing moral and social distinctions (friend vs. foe). Ethically, it warns that conditions of confusion in war can undermine discernment (viveka), making righteous conduct harder to sustain.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that as dusk fell on the battlefield, the area was shrouded in darkness and everyone became disoriented; in that twilight, people could not recognize their own side versus the enemy, and the scene seemed chaotic and ‘mad.’