Shloka 53
रात्रौ युद्धप्रवृत्तिः — Night Battle Begins; Duryodhana’s Protective Orders for Droṇa
Droṇa-parva 139
त्वत्कृते हाहमद्राक्षं दह॒मानां वरूथिनीम् । सहस्रश: शरैर्मुक्ते: पाण्डवेन वृषेण च,आपके ही कारण मैंने भीमसेन और कर्णके छोड़े हुए हजारों बाणोंसे राजाओंकी विशाल सेना दग्ध होती देखी है
tvatkṛte hāham adrākṣaṁ dahamānāṁ varūthinīm | sahasraśaḥ śaraiḥ mukteḥ pāṇḍavena vṛṣeṇa ca ||
Sañjaya said: “Because of you, I myself witnessed the great battle-array of kings being consumed in the blaze of destruction, as thousands upon thousands of arrows were released—by the Pāṇḍava Bhīmasena and by Karṇa.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral causality in leadership: a ruler’s attachment and choices can become the indirect cause of vast suffering. Sañjaya’s lament—“because of you”—frames the battlefield devastation as a consequence of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s failure to restrain adharma and avert war.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that he has witnessed a massive force of kings being devastated as torrents of arrows are released in battle, specifically by Bhīmasena (a Pāṇḍava) and by Karṇa, described with the heroic epithet “vṛṣa” (bull among men).