Shloka 8
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
अवध्य: सर्वभूतानां वज़संहननो युवा । पाण्डवै: समरे पुत्रो निहतो मम संजय
avadhyaḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ vajrasaṁhanano yuvā | pāṇḍavaiḥ samare putro nihato mama sañjaya ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, my son was young, his body hard as a vajra—so he seemed invulnerable to all beings. Yet on the battlefield the Pāṇḍavas slew him.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Physical strength and the reputation of being ‘invulnerable’ do not ultimately protect one in the chaos of war; the verse highlights the fragility of human claims to security and the ethical anguish that follows violent loss.
Sañjaya reports a death in the aftermath of the great battle: he laments that his young son—thought unassailable due to his thunderbolt-like build—was nevertheless killed by the Pāṇḍavas in combat.