Shloka 4
Dvaipāyana-hrade Duryodhanasya Māyā — Yudhiṣṭhirasya Dharmoktiḥ (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 30)
निशम्य पाण्डुपुत्राणां तदा वै जयिनां स्वनम् | विद्रुतं शिबिरं दृष्टवा सायाह्ले राजगृद्धिन:
niśamya pāṇḍuputrāṇāṁ tadā vai jayināṁ svanam | vidrutaṁ śibiraṁ dṛṣṭvā sāyāhle rājagṛddhinaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Hearing the triumphant roar of the sons of Pāṇḍu, and seeing the camp in flight in the late afternoon, the king—eager for victory—was seized by anxious longing to know what had happened.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how attachment to victory and royal gain (rājagṛddhi) becomes ethically dangerous in war: the craving for conquest blinds one to the suffering and instability that battle inevitably brings, and even a single shift in sound and sight can collapse confidence.
Sañjaya reports that the victorious shout of the Pāṇḍavas is heard, and the encampment is seen scattering in flight in the late afternoon—signaling a decisive turn on the battlefield and stirring the king’s anxious desire to know the outcome.