Shloka 173
नाभिजानन्ति चान्योन्यं कश्मलाभिहतौजस: । दूसरे बहुत-से योद्धा “हा तात! हा पुत्र!” की रट लगाते हुए भयभीत होकर भाग रहे थे। मोहसे बल और उत्साह नष्ट हो जानेके कारण वे ऐसे अचेत हो रहे थे कि एक-दूसरेको पहचान भी नहीं पाते थे
nābhijānanti cānyonyaṁ kaśmalābhihataujasaḥ |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: Their strength and ardor being shattered by bewilderment, they no longer recognized one another. In the panic of battle, many fled crying, “Alas, father! Alas, son!”—a scene that exposes how delusion can eclipse discernment and fracture even the most basic bonds of human recognition.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how kaśmala (bewilderment and moral confusion) can destroy ojas (inner vigor and clarity), reducing people to panic where even basic recognition and relational awareness collapse—an ethical warning about the dehumanizing force of delusion in war.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes the battlefield’s chaos: many combatants, terrified and grief-stricken, flee while crying out for their fathers and sons, and in their stunned state they cannot even recognize one another.