Shloka 27
Karna Reproves Shalya; Brahmin Reports on Bāhlīkas; Shalya’s Universalizing Rebuttal (कर्ण–शल्य संवादः)
अश्रौषं निहतान् पुत्रान् नित्यमेव विनिर्जितान् | न पाण्डवानां समरे कक्षिदस्ति निवारक:
aśrauṣaṁ nihatān putrān nityam eva vinirjitān | na pāṇḍavānāṁ samare kaścid asti nivārakaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “I have heard that our sons are being slain—again and again, continually overcome. In battle there is no one who can check the Pāṇḍavas or hold them back.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and psychological reality of war: when adharma-driven aggression meets resolute, dharma-aligned resistance, defeat can become relentless, and no mere force can ‘restrain’ the consequences once the conflict has ripened.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kuru side’s sons are repeatedly being slain and routed, and that on the battlefield the Pāṇḍavas appear unstoppable—no warrior is able to check their advance.