Shloka 18
Droṇanidhana-anantaraṃ sainya-viṣādaḥ and Karṇa-pravṛttiḥ
After Droṇa’s fall: army despondency and Karṇa’s advance
संशप्तकानां च बले पाण्डवेन महात्मना । धनंजयेन विक्रम्प गमिते यमसादनम्,महात्मा पाण्डुपुत्र अर्जुनने पराक्रम करके संशप्तकोंकी सारी सेनाको यमलोक पहुँचा दिया और बुद्धिमान् द्रोणकुमार अश्वत्थामाका नारायणास्त्र भी जब शान्त हो गया, उस समय अपनी सेनाओंमें भगदड़ मच जानेपर मेरे पुत्रोंने क्या किया?
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | saṁśaptakānāṁ ca bale pāṇḍavena mahātmanā | dhanaṁjayena vikramya gamite yamasādanam | mahātmā pāṇḍuputro 'rjunaḥ parākrameṇa saṁśaptakānāṁ sarvāṁ senāṁ yamalokaṁ prāpayāmāsa | buddhimān droṇakumāro 'śvatthāmā ca nārāyaṇāstraṁ yadā śāntaṁ babhūva | tadā senāsu bhagnāsu bhagadarī-mukheṣu ca mama putrāḥ kiṁ cakruḥ ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: When the great-souled Pāṇḍava Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), displaying his might, sent the entire force of the Saṁśaptakas to the abode of Yama, and when Aśvatthāmā, the wise son of Droṇa, had his Nārāyaṇa-weapon pacified—then, as panic and rout spread through the armies, what did my sons do?
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how swiftly the fortunes of war turn: even vowed elite fighters can be destroyed by superior skill and resolve, and even a terrifying divine weapon can be neutralized. Ethically, it underscores the tragic blindness of attachment—Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s concern remains fixed on ‘my sons’ amid a catastrophe driven by adharma and ambition.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks what the Kauravas did when Arjuna annihilated the Saṁśaptaka contingent and when Aśvatthāmā’s Nārāyaṇa-weapon was rendered ineffective; with the Kaurava forces thrown into panic and disorder, he seeks an account of his sons’ response.