Shloka 366
मातुलान् भागिनेयांश्व॒ परानपि च संयुगे । राजन! रणभूमिमें जहाँ-तहाँ गिरे हुए अगणित मनुष्य अपने कुट॒म्बीजनोंको पुकार रहे थे। कुछ बेटोंको, कुछ पिताको, कुछ भाई-बन्धुओंको, कुछ मामा-भाजोंको और कुछ लोग दूसरों-दूसरोंके नाम ले-लेकर विलाप कर रहे थे
mātulān bhāgineyāṃś ca parān api ca saṃyuge | rājan raṇabhūmau yatra-tatra patitā agaṇitā manuṣyāḥ sva-kutumbijanān āhvayantaḥ śokārtā vilapanti sma | kecid putrān kecid pitaram kecid bhrātṝn bandhūṃś ca kecin mātulān bhāgineyāṃś ca kecid anyān anyān nāmabhir āhūya paridevayanti sma ||
Sanjaya said: O King, on the battlefield, countless men lay fallen in every direction. In their anguish they cried out for their own family members—some calling for their sons, some for their fathers, some for brothers and kinsmen, some for maternal uncles and nephews—while others, naming this person and that, lamented aloud. The scene exposes the human cost of war: when bonds of kinship are torn, grief overwhelms all sides, regardless of victory or defeat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the ethical reality that war shatters familial bonds and produces indiscriminate suffering. Even when fought under claims of dharma, violence yields grief that spreads beyond combatants to the web of relatives—sons, fathers, brothers, uncles, and nephews—revealing the need for restraint, compassion, and sober reflection on consequences.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra the aftermath on the battlefield: innumerable fallen men, wounded or dying, cry out the names of their relatives and lament loudly. The description paints a chaotic soundscape of personal loss amid the larger war.