Shloka 30
शल्यपर्वणि प्रथमाध्यायः — Karṇa-vadha-anantaraṃ Śalya-niyogaḥ, Saṃjayasya Dhṛtarāṣṭra-nivedanam
धृष्टद्युम्नो महाराज शिखण्डी चापराजित:,“महाराज! नरव्याप्र नरेश! धृष्टद्युम्न, अपराजित वीर शिखण्डी, उत्तमौजा, युधामन्यु, प्रभद्रकगण, पांचाल और चेदिदेशीय योद्धाओंका भी संहार हो गया”
dhṛṣṭadyumno mahārāja śikhaṇḍī cāparājitaḥ | uttamaujā yudhāmanyuḥ prabhadrakagaṇaḥ pañcālāś ca cedideśīyā yodhāś ca saṁhṛtāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O great king, the warrior Dhṛṣṭadyumna and the unconquered hero Śikhaṇḍī—along with Uttamaujā, Yudhāmanyu, the band of the Prabhadrakas, and the fighters of the Pāñcālas and the Cedi land—have all been slain.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the devastating, indiscriminate cost of war: even celebrated heroes and whole allied groups perish. It implicitly presses the ethical reflection that victory in adharma-saturated conflict is inseparable from grief, depletion, and moral burden.
Vaiśampāyana reports to the listener-king that major Pāṇḍava-aligned champions—Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Śikhaṇḍī, Uttamaujā, Yudhāmanyu—along with the Prabhadrakas and the warriors of Pāñcāla and Cedi, have been killed, marking a severe turning point in the war’s casualties.