Shloka 386
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५७
Arjuna’s targeted advance; Śalya–Karṇa dialogue; interception attempts
जल त्यक्त्वा प्रधावन्ति क्रोशमाना: परस्परम् । “अर्जुन! कितने ही योद्धा पानी लानेके लिये गये, इसी बीचमें पानी चाहनेवाले बहुत-से वीरोंके प्राण निकल गये। वे शूरवीर जब पानी लेकर लौटे हैं, तब अपने उन सम्बन्धियोंको चेतनारहित देखकर पानीको वहीं फेंक परस्पर चीखते-चिल्लाते हुए चारों ओर दौड़ रहे हैं
jalaṁ tyaktvā pradhāvanti krośamānāḥ parasparam |
Sanjaya said: Casting away the water, they run about in all directions, crying out to one another. The scene underscores the cruelty and futility that war breeds: even life-saving efforts arrive too late, and grief overwhelms duty, as comrades who returned with water find their own kinsmen fallen senseless and, in anguish, abandon the water and rush about wailing.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the devastating moral and emotional fallout of war: practical duties (bringing water to the wounded) are eclipsed by shock and grief when death has already occurred. It implicitly warns that violence multiplies suffering beyond the immediate act of killing, unraveling composure, duty, and human bonds.
On the battlefield, some warriors had gone to fetch water for those suffering from thirst. When they return, they find their relatives and comrades already unconscious or dead; in despair they throw down the water and run about, crying to one another.