Shloka 91
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५९
Arjuna Breaks the Encirclement; Bhīma Reinforces
प्रभग्ना: समरे भीता दिशो दश महाबला: । शक्रस्यातिथितां गत्वा विशोका हाुभवंस्तदा
prabhagnāḥ samare bhītā diśo daśa mahābalāḥ | śakrasyātithitāṃ gatvā viśokā abhavaṃs tadā prabho |
Sañjaya sprach: In der Schlacht zerschlagen und von Furcht ergriffen, flohen die mächtigen Krieger in alle zehn Richtungen. Und viele dieser Helden, zu „Gästen Śakras“ geworden—das heißt: im Kampf gefallen und in Indras Welt gelangt—wurden sogleich vom Kummer befreit, o Herr.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reflects the epic’s kṣatriya-war ethic: fear can scatter even the mighty, yet death in battle is framed as an honored passage—‘becoming Indra’s guest’—suggesting a culturally sanctioned meaning for battlefield death and the ideal of meeting one’s end without lingering grief.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, amid the fighting, warriors (identified in the running context as Saṃsaptakas) are broken and panic-stricken, fleeing in every direction; many are slain and are poetically said to go to Indra’s abode, thereby becoming ‘sorrowless’.