Shloka 61
अश्वत्थामा कृतवर्मा शकुनिश्चव महाबल: । न्यहनन् पाण्डवीं सेनां शतशो5थ सहस्रश:
Aśvatthāmā Kṛtavarmā Śakuniś caiva mahābalaḥ | nyahanan pāṇḍavīṃ senāṃ śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Aśvatthāmā, Kṛtavarmā, and Śakuni—men of great might—fell upon the Pāṇḍava host, cutting it down in hundreds and then in thousands.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war, once unrestrained, rapidly escalates into indiscriminate mass killing. It implicitly warns that mere martial power (bala) without ethical restraint can become a vehicle for adharma, intensifying collective suffering.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Aśvatthāman, Kṛtavarman, and Śakuni are actively attacking the Pāṇḍava forces, killing large numbers—first in the hundreds, then in the thousands—signaling a fierce and widening rout on the battlefield.