Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 43
व्यवहारं गदायुद्धे पार्थिवस्थ च पातनम् | तदाख्याय तत: सर्वे द्रोणपुत्रस्य भारत ।।
sañjaya uvāca |
vyavahāraṃ gadāyuddhe pārthivasya ca pātanam |
tad ākhyāya tataḥ sarve droṇaputrasya bhārata ||
(vārtikā: duḥkhasaṃtaptāḥ śokopahatacetasaḥ |
dhyātvā ca suciraṃ kālaṃ jagmur āgatā yathāgatam ||)
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, after reporting to Droṇa’s son everything—how the mace-duel was conducted and how the king was brought down—those messengers, scorched by grief and with minds struck by sorrow, remained long absorbed in thought. Then, distressed and overwhelmed by lamentation, they departed just as they had come.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral weight of wartime conduct: how a duel is carried out and how a fallen opponent is treated become ethically charged facts that generate grief, reflection, and consequences beyond the battlefield.
Messengers arrive and report to Aśvatthāman the full account of the mace-duel and the king’s downfall. After delivering the news, they linger in sorrowful contemplation and then depart.