Shloka 29
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
प्रस्थाप्य माद्रीसुतमाजमीढ: शोकार्दितस्तै: सहित: सुहृद्धिः । रोरूयमाण: प्रययौ सुताना- मायोधनं भूतगणानुकीर्णम्,माद्रीकुमारको वहाँ भेजकर अजमीढ़कुलनन्दन युधिष्ठिर शोकाकुल हो उन सभी सुहृदोंके साथ बारंबार रोते हुए पुत्रोंके उस युद्धस्थलमें गये, जो भूतगणोंसे भरा हुआ था
prasthāpya mādrīsutam ājamīḍhaḥ śokārditas taiḥ sahitaḥ suhṛdbhiḥ | rorūyamāṇaḥ prayayau sutānām āyodhanaṃ bhūtagaṇānukīrṇam ||
Having dispatched Mādrī’s son, Ajāmīḍha’s descendant (Yudhiṣṭhira), crushed by grief, set out with those loyal friends. Weeping again and again, he went to the battlefield where his sons lay—now a place thronged with bands of spirits—underscoring how war’s aftermath overwhelms even the righteous with sorrow and dread.
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and emotional cost of violence: even a dharmic king like Yudhiṣṭhira is shattered by the loss of his sons, and the battlefield becomes a spiritually ominous space, suggesting that adharma in war leaves lingering terror and sorrow beyond the physical deaths.
Sūta narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira, after sending Mādrī’s son on an errand, proceeds with his companions to the battlefield where his sons lie slain; he goes there repeatedly wailing, and the place is described as filled with hosts of spirits, emphasizing the horror of the night’s massacre and its aftermath.