Shloka 13
Draupadī-apaharaṇa-saṃdeśaḥ
Report of Draupadī’s Abduction and the Pāṇḍavas’ Pursuit
युधि सम्प्रहरिष्यन्तो मोक्ष्यन्ति कुरुसत्तम | निः:स्नेहा दानवाविष्टा: समाक्रान्तेडन्तरात्मनि
yudhi samprahariṣyanto mokṣyanti kurusattama | niḥsnehā dānavāviṣṭāḥ samākrānte ’ntarātmani ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of the Kurus, when they are about to clash in battle, they will let loose their weapons. Devoid of natural affection, possessed by demonic impulses, they press on even as the inner self is overrun.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how violence escalates when compassion and inner discernment are eclipsed: when the heart is ‘overrun’ and one is driven by demonic impulses, ethical restraint collapses and battle becomes an expression of inner disorder.
Vaiśampāyana describes combatants poised to strike and release their weapons, portraying them as lacking affection and acting under a ‘demonic’ sway—an interpretive frame that explains ruthless conduct in war as arising from inner possession and loss of self-mastery.