Shloka 39
द्रोणकर्णयोः निशि संप्रहारः — Night Engagement with Droṇa and Karṇa
हतभूयिष्ठयोधं तत् कृत्वा तव बल॑ बली
hatabhūyiṣṭhayodhaṃ tat kṛtvā tava balaṃ balī
Sañjaya said: Having thus reduced your army to a force in which most of the warriors were slain, that mighty one brought about this state of your host—an outcome heavy with the moral weight of war’s devastation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when framed as heroic might (balī), the verse foregrounds the grim ethical reality of war: power is measured here by the capacity to annihilate, and the narrative invites reflection on the cost—an army reduced because most warriors are slain.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a powerful combatant has caused the Kaurava host to become an army with most of its warriors killed—indicating a severe reversal and near-ruin of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s forces.