Shloka 143

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

प्रत्यूषकाले शिबिरात्‌ प्रतिगन्तुमियेष सः । नृशोणितावसिक्तस्य द्रौणेरासीदसित्सरु:

Transliteration

pratyūṣakāle śibirāt pratigantum iyeṣa saḥ | nṛśoṇitāvasiktasya drauṇer āsīd asitsaruḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Beim Tagesanbruch wollte er das Lager verlassen und zurückkehren. Doch das Schwert des Sohnes Droṇas war verdunkelt—die Klinge mit Menschenblut verschmiert—ein Zeichen der düsteren Nachwirkung der nächtlichen Gewalt und des sittlichen Makels, der an solchem Schlachten haftet.

Word by Word

प्रत्यूषकालेat dawn-time

शिबिरात्from the camp

प्रतिगन्तुम्to go back/return

इयेषdesired/intended

सःhe

नृशोणितावसिक्तस्यof (one) smeared with human blood

द्रौणेःof Drona's son (Ashvatthaman)

आसीत्was

असित्सरुःone whose sword-hilt (was ...); sword-hilted (one)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Aśvatthāman (Drauṇi, son of Droṇa)

śibira (camp)

asitsaruḥ (sword)

nṛśoṇita (human blood)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how acts of extreme violence—especially those associated with night-time slaughter—leave an enduring moral taint. The blood-smeared sword becomes a symbol of adharma and the ethical consequences that follow from transgressive warfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

At dawn, the figure in question intends to leave/return from the camp, while the narration highlights that Aśvatthāman’s sword is smeared with human blood—pointing to the brutal killings that have just occurred during the night in the Sauptika episode.