Shloka 59
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
हतांश्चाधर्मतः श्रुत्वा शोकार्ता: शुशुचुर्हि ते । भीष्म द्रोणं तथा कर्ण भूरिश्रवसमेव च,भीष्म, द्रोण, कर्ण और भूरिश्रवाको अधर्मपूर्वक मारा गया सुनकर सब लोग शोकसे व्याकुल हो खेद प्रकट करने लगे
hatāṁś cādharmataḥ śrutvā śokārtāḥ śuśucur hi te | bhīṣma-droṇaṁ tathā karṇaṁ bhūriśravasam eva ca ||
Sañjaya said: Hearing that Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa, and Bhūriśravas had been slain in ways judged contrary to dharma, the people were overwhelmed with grief and openly lamented. The report does not merely announce deaths; it frames them as ethically troubling, intensifying sorrow into moral anguish.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the manner of an act matters ethically: deaths perceived as occurring 'adharmataḥ' (contrary to dharma) deepen collective sorrow into moral distress, underscoring that war’s outcomes are judged not only by victory but by righteousness of means.
Sañjaya reports that people, upon hearing that major Kuru heroes—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa, and Bhūriśravas—were killed in ways considered improper, become grief-stricken and begin lamenting.