Shloka 443
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
तद्भावकृतसंकल्पो द्रौणिरेकोडन्चचिन्तयत् । रात्रिमें उल्लूके द्वारा किये गये उस कपटपूर्ण क्रूर कर्मको देखकर स्वयं भी वैसा ही करनेका संकल्प लेकर अश्व॒त्थामा अकेला ही विचार करने लगा--
tadbhāvakṛtasaṅkalpo drauṇir eko 'pi ca cintayat | rātrim ullūkena dvārā kṛtaṁ tat kapaṭapūrṇaṁ krūraṁ karma dṛṣṭvā svayam api tathaiva kartum saṅkalpaṁ kṛtvā aśvatthāmā eko 'pi vicārayām āsa ||
Sañjaya said: Having formed his resolve under the influence of that very mindset, Droṇa’s son—Aśvatthāmā—began to ponder alone. Seeing the deceitful and cruel act carried out at night through Ulūka, he too resolved to do the same, and, by himself, reflected on how to proceed.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how exposure to deceit and cruelty can normalize adharma: seeing treachery committed becomes a psychological trigger for retaliatory imitation. It warns that moral boundaries erode in cycles of vengeance, where one wrong is used to justify another.
After observing a cruel, deceptive nighttime deed carried out through Ulūka, Aśvatthāmā (Droṇa’s son) forms a similar resolve. Alone, he deliberates—setting the stage for the night-raid violence characteristic of the Sauptika Parva.