Shloka 44
अध्याय ३: कृपस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति नीत्युपदेशः
Kṛpa’s Counsel to Duryodhana
अन्धकारीकृते लोके शरीभूते महीतले । दिश: सर्वा महाराज तावका: प्राद्रवन् भयात्
andhakārīkṛte loke śarībhūte mahītale | diśaḥ sarvā mahārāja tāvakāḥ prādravan bhayāt ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Als die Welt in Finsternis versank und selbst die Erdoberfläche eine schreckliche, gleichsam leibhaftige Gestalt anzunehmen schien, o König, flohen deine Krieger aus Angst in alle Richtungen.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how fear and perceived catastrophic signs can overpower training and duty, causing collective breakdown in a battlefield context; it implicitly contrasts steadiness and discipline with panic-driven flight.
Sañjaya reports to the king that a sudden, enveloping darkness and an ominous atmosphere spread over the battlefield, and the Kaurava forces, terrified, scattered and fled in all directions.