Shloka 29
अध्याय ९ — धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति राजनित्युपदेशः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Royal Policy to Yudhiṣṭhira
अक्षौहिण्यो महाराज दशाष्टौ च समागता:
akṣauhiṇyo mahārāja daśāṣṭau ca samāgatāḥ |
Dijo Vaiśaṃpāyana: «Oh rey, para aquella guerra se reunieron dieciocho akṣauhiṇīs, divisiones completas de ejército. Y, sin embargo, en tan sólo dieciocho días, los campeones más eminentes de los Kauravas—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Kṛpa y otros—y el magnánimo Karṇa, junto con los héroes principales del bando Pāṇḍava—Sātyaki, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Bhīmasena, Arjuna, Nakula y Sahadeva—llevaron a todos a la destrucción.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the vast scale of the Kurukṣetra war and its rapid devastation, implying the fragility of worldly might and the grave ethical cost when conflict overwhelms dharma.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reminds the king that eighteen akṣauhiṇīs gathered for the war, and that the principal warriors on both sides—named here—were instrumental in the near-total annihilation within eighteen days.