Shloka 20
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
पुत्रश्न पितरं मोहान्निर्मर्यादमवर्तत । वहाँ पिता रथके द्वारा युद्धके मैदानमें आकर पुत्रका ही वध कर डालता था और पुत्र भी मोहवश पिताके प्राण ले रहा था। इस प्रकार वहाँ मर्यादाशून्य युद्ध हो रहा था ।। १९३ || रथो भग्नो ध्वजश्शकछ्िन्नश्छत्रमुर्व्या निपातितम्
putraśna pitaram mohān nirmaryādam avartata | tatra pitā rathakena yuddhakṣetre samāgatya putrasyaiva vadhaṁ cakāra, putro 'pi mohavaśāt pituḥ prāṇān apāharat | evaṁ tatra maryādāśūnyaṁ yuddham abhavat || ratho bhagno dhvajaś chinnaś chatram urvyā nipātitam ||
Sañjaya said: Deluded, a son turned upon his father without restraint. There, a father would come onto the battlefield in his chariot and slay his own son, and the son too—overpowered by confusion—would take his father’s life. Thus, in that place the fighting became bereft of all bounds and propriety. Chariots were shattered, banners cut down, and parasols cast upon the earth.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
When delusion (moha) overwhelms discernment, even the most fundamental dharmic boundaries—such as the reverence between father and son—collapse, turning warfare into ‘maryādāśūnya’ violence devoid of restraint.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield descending into chaos: fathers and sons, confused and unrestrained, kill one another; simultaneously the visible signs of defeat and disorder appear—chariots break, standards are severed, and royal parasols fall to the ground.