Shloka 47
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
न्यहनच्च पिता पुत्र पुत्रश्न पितरं तथा । व्याकुलीकृतसर्वाड् युयुधुस्तत्र मानवा:,उस युद्धमें पिताने पुत्रको और पुत्रने पिताको मार डाला। सबके सभी अंग व्याकुल हो गये थे, तो भी सब लोग युद्ध कर रहे थे
nyahanac ca pitā putraṁ putraś ca pitaraṁ tathā | vyākulīkṛta-sarvāṅgā yuyudhustatra mānavāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In that battle, a father struck down his own son, and a son likewise struck down his father. Though every limb of the warriors trembled in agitation and distress, the men there still fought on.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical catastrophe of war: when conflict becomes all-consuming, even the most fundamental dharmic bonds—between father and son—are overridden. It underscores how adharma can manifest not only as wrongdoing but as a breakdown of natural compassion and restraint under the pressure of battle.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene where combatants, overwhelmed and trembling in distress, continue fighting. In the chaos, fathers kill sons and sons kill fathers, emphasizing the indiscriminate and tragic nature of the Kurukṣetra war.