Shloka 163
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
कुण्जराश्वमनुष्याणां प्राणान्तकरणी तदा । राजन! वह रात्रि समस्त योद्धाओंके लिये अमंगल-कारक, भयंकर यमराजके पास ले जानेवाली तथा हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्योंके प्राणोंका अन्त करनेवाली थी
kuñjarāśvamanusyāṇāṃ prāṇāntakaraṇī tadā | rājan! sā rātriḥ samastayoddhānāṃ kṛte amaṅgala-kārakā bhayaṅkarayamarāja-samīpa-nayanī ca hastī-ghoḍa-manuṣya-prāṇānāṃ anta-karaṇī cāsīt |
Sañjaya said: “O King, that night proved a bringer of ill omen for all the warriors. It was dreadful—like a force that drives beings toward Yama, the Lord of Death—and it brought the lives of elephants, horses, and men to their end.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical and existential weight of war: when violence escalates, it becomes indiscriminate, consuming not only famed heroes but also animals and ordinary fighters. It evokes impermanence and the moral cost of conflict, reminding the listener that adharma-driven warfare turns time itself (the night) into an agent of death.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhritarashtra that a particular night on the battlefield was extraordinarily ominous and deadly. It led countless combatants—along with elephants and horses—toward death, figuratively ‘to Yama,’ indicating a night of severe carnage in the Drona Parva war sequence.