Shloka 49
Rajo-dhūli-saṃmūḍha-saṅgrāmaḥ
The Dust-Obscured Battle and Mutual Charges
हते विप्रद्रुते सैन्ये निरुत्साहे विमर्दिते । हाहाकारो महानासीत् पाण्डुसैन्येषु भारत,भारत! पाण्डव-सेनाके सैनिक बहुत-से मारे गये, बहुतेरे भाग गये, कितने रौंद डाले गये और कितने ही उत्साहशून्य हो गये। इस प्रकार पाण्डवदलमें बड़ा हाहाकार मच गया था इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि भीष्मवधपर्वणि शड्खयुद्धे प्रथणदिवसावहारे एकोनपज्चाशत्तमो5 ध्याय: इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत भीष्मपर्वके अन्तर्गत भीष्यवधपर्वमें शंखका युद्ध तथा प्रथम दिनके युद्धका उपसंहाराविषयक उनचासवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
hate vipradrute sainye nirutsāhe vimardite | hāhākāro mahān āsīt pāṇḍusainyeṣu bhārata ||
Sañjaya said: When the army had been slain, scattered in flight, stripped of resolve, and crushed in the melee, a great cry of distress arose among the forces of the Pāṇḍus, O Bhārata.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a recurring ethical reality of war: beyond physical casualties, warfare shatters morale and social order, producing collective anguish (hāhākāra). It implicitly warns that violence generates cascading harm—fear, flight, and despair—affecting even those who survive.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Pāṇḍava troops have suffered heavy losses and disarray—many killed, many routed, many crushed in the press of battle, and many losing heart—resulting in a loud uproar of lamentation within their ranks.