Shloka 1463
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
तथैव हत्वा निःशब्दे निश्चक्राम नरर्षभ: । जिस प्रकार रातके समय सबके सो जानेपर शान्त शिविरमें उसने प्रवेश किया था, उसी प्रकार वह नरश्रेष्ठ वीर सबको मारकर कोलाहलशून्य हुए शिविरसे बाहर निकला
tathaiva hatvā niḥśabde niścakrāma nararṣabhaḥ |
Sañjaya said: Having slain them, the bull among men withdrew in the same manner as he had entered—slipping out of the camp now rendered utterly silent, emptied of all clamor. The verse underscores the grim asymmetry of a night massacre: stealth replaces open combat, and the quiet that follows is not peace but the moral weight of slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical darkness of killing by stealth in a sleeping camp: the outward silence after the act contrasts with the inner moral consequence, suggesting that victory gained through adharma leaves a residue of guilt and karmic burden rather than true peace.
Sañjaya describes the attacker leaving the camp after killing its occupants. He exits as quietly as he had entered at night, and the camp is now silent—not because danger has passed, but because life and resistance have been extinguished.