Shloka 2
Adhyāya 65: Dawn Assembly, Makara–Śyena Vyūhas, and Commander Engagements
नित्यं हि मामकांस्तात हतानेव हि शंससि । अव्यग्रांश्न प्रह्ष्टांक्ष नित्यं शंससि पाण्डवान्
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
nityaṃ hi māmakāṃs tāta hatān eva hi śaṃsasi |
avyagrān prahṛṣṭākṣān nityaṃ śaṃsasi pāṇḍavān |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “My son, you always report my own men as though already slain. And you continually describe the Pāṇḍavas as untroubled and bright-eyed with joy.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse exposes how attachment and partisanship distort perception: Dhṛtarāṣṭra hears the war-news through the lens of “mine” (māmakāḥ) versus “theirs” (Pāṇḍavāḥ), and reacts to reports not with ethical reflection but with anxious self-interest.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra complains to Sañjaya that the battlefield reports repeatedly sound like the Kaurava side is being destroyed, while the Pāṇḍavas are portrayed as calm and jubilant—revealing the king’s fear for his sons and his suspicion toward the messenger’s narration.