Shloka 47
मत्कृते चाप्यनुप्राप्त: कुरूणामेष संक्षय:
matkṛte cāpy anuprāptaḥ kurūṇām eṣa saṁkṣayaḥ
Vaiśampāyana said: “And for my sake as well, this destruction of the Kurus has come to pass.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how individuals may interpret massive historical catastrophes through personal causation—claiming that a collective downfall occurred “because of me.” Ethically, it points to the danger of personal attachments and motives becoming entangled with public violence, and to the burden of responsibility (real or perceived) in the aftermath of war.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration of the Drona Parva, the ongoing slaughter in the Kurukṣetra war is being framed as a ‘saṁkṣaya’—a sweeping destruction of the Kuru people—described as something that has ‘come to pass’ and is attributed, at least in part, to a particular person’s cause (‘for my sake also’).