Shloka 30
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
स तत् प्रविश्याशिवमुग्ररूप॑ ददर्श पुत्रान् सुहृद: सखी श्व॒ । भूमौ शयानान् रुधिराद्द्रगात्रान् विभिन्नदेहान् प्रह्तोत्तमाड्रान्,उस भयंकर एवं अमंगलमय स्थानमें प्रवेश करके उन्होंने अपने पुत्रों, सुहदों और सखाओंको देखा, जो खूनसे लथपथ होकर पृथ्वीपर पड़े थे। उनके शरीर छिज्न-भिन्न हो गये थे और मस्तक कट गये थे
sa tat praviśyāśivam ugrarūpaṁ dadarśa putrān suhṛdaḥ sakhīś ca | bhūmau śayānān rudhirārdragātrān vibhinnadehān prahṛtottamāṅgān ||
Entering that dreadful place, ominous and fierce in aspect, he beheld his sons, his well-wishers, and his companions lying on the ground—limbs soaked in blood, bodies mangled and torn apart, their heads struck down. The scene exposes the moral collapse of nocturnal slaughter: when restraint and dharma are abandoned, victory turns into a vision of ruin and grief.
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical consequence of adharma in war: when killing is done without restraint—especially in a helpless state—the result is not true triumph but an inauspicious spectacle of suffering that rebounds as grief and moral stain.
The narrator describes a man entering a terrifying, ill-omened place and seeing his sons, friends, and companions slain—lying on the ground, drenched in blood, their bodies mutilated and heads cut down—depicting the horrific aftermath of the Sauptika night slaughter.