Shloka 45
क्रुद्धों भृशं तव पुत्रेषु राजन् दैत्येषु यद्वत् समरे महेन्द्र: । ततो व्यमुहा॒न्त रणे नृवीरा: प्रमोहनास्त्राहतबुद्धिसत्त्वा:
kruddho bhṛśaṁ tava putreṣu rājan daityeṣu yadvat samare mahendraḥ | tato vyamuhyanta raṇe nṛvīrāḥ pramohanāstrāhatabuddhisattvāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O King, he blazed with fierce wrath against your sons, even as Mahendra (Indra) does against the Daityas in battle. Then, upon the field, the heroic warriors were thrown into bewilderment, their understanding and resolve struck down by the deluding weapon.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how uncontrolled wrath in war escalates violence, and how the use of deluding force (pramohana-astra) can disable discernment and courage—raising an ethical tension between victory by power and victory aligned with dharma.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior, furious at the Kauravas, acts like Indra battling the Daityas; as a result, fighters on the field become confused because their minds and resolve are struck by a stupefying weapon.