Shloka 1176
गौरुडव्यूह-रचना तथा अर्धचन्द्र-प्रत्यव्यूह
Garuḍa Array and the Ardhacandra Counter-Formation
वादित्रनिनदैघेरिर्नृत्यति सम समन्ततः । राजन! श्वेतको मारा गया देख आपका पुत्र दुःशासन बाजे-गाजेकी भयंकर ध्वनिके साथ चारों ओर नाचने लगा
vāditra-ninadaiḥ ghoraiḥ nṛtyati sama-samantataḥ | rājan! śvetako mārā gayā; dekh āp kā putra duḥśāsana bāje-gāje kī bhayaṅkara dhvani ke sātha cāroṃ or nācne lagā ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, amid the terrifying roar of drums and instruments, there was dancing everywhere on all sides. ‘Śvetaka has been slain!’—on hearing this, your son Duḥśāsana began to dance all around, carried away by the dreadful din of music.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral contrast: rejoicing and celebrating at another’s death—especially in the frenzy of war—signals a hardening of conscience and a drift toward adharma. It implicitly critiques the Kaurava temperament that treats violence as entertainment rather than as a grave consequence.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, after news spread that Śvetaka had been killed, Duḥśāsana erupted into celebratory dancing amid the frightening blare of war-instruments, with commotion on all sides.