Shloka 22
जयद्रथवधः — The Slaying of Jayadratha
Sunset Vow and Curse-Condition
अन्ये च बहवो म्लेच्छा विविधायुधपाणय: । न च मे सम्भ्रम: कश्चिद् भूतपूर्व: कथंचन
anye ca bahavo mlecchā vividhāyudhapāṇayaḥ | na ca me sambhramaḥ kaścid bhūtapūrvaḥ kathaṃcana ||
Sūta said: “And there were many others too—foreign tribesmen (mlecchas), their hands bearing weapons of many kinds. Yet never before, in any way, had I felt such agitation and alarm as I do now.”
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inner moral-psychological reality of war: even a seasoned observer who has seen many armed peoples can be shaken by an unprecedented intensity of violence, showing that fear and moral disquiet arise when destruction crosses familiar limits.
Sūta, narrating events of the Drona Parva, remarks that although many mleccha warriors armed with diverse weapons were present, he has never experienced such overwhelming alarm before—signaling the extraordinary terror and scale of the ongoing battle situation.