Shloka 20
तदा हाभीक्ष्णं सुबहून् प्रकारान् श्रोतास्मि तानावसथे कुरूणाम् | तेषां समन्ताच्च तथा रणाग्रे क्षय: किलायं भरतानुपैति,उस समय मैं महलोंमें बैठा हुआ बार-बार कौरवोंकी विविध अवस्थाओंकी कथा सुनता रहूँगा। अहो! युद्धके मुहानेपर निश्चय ही सब ओरसे यह भरतवंशका विनाश आ पहुँचा है
tadā hābhīkṣṇaṁ subahūn prakārān śrotāsmi tān āvasathe kurūṇām | teṣāṁ samantāc ca tathā raṇāgre kṣayaḥ kilāyaṁ bharatānupaiti ||
Then, seated within the palace, I shall again and again be forced to hear, in many different ways, reports of the Kuru princes and their changing conditions. Alas—at the very threshold of battle, from every side, the destruction of this Bharata line has surely drawn near.
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral weight of impending war: when conflict is allowed to ripen, even those who remain in comfort (the palace) cannot escape its consequences, and an entire lineage may be driven toward ruin.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, anxious and sorrowful, anticipates that he will sit in the palace hearing repeated reports about the Kurus, while sensing that the annihilation of the Bharata line is approaching on all sides as the battle draws near.