Shloka 126
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
तदिदं नः कृतं घोर रक्षोभि: क्रूरकर्मभि: । इति लालप्यमाना: सम शेरते बहवो जना:,“आज क्र्रकर्मा राक्षसोंद्वारा हमारी यह भयंकर दुर्दशा की गयी है।” इस प्रकार विलाप करते हुए बहुत-से मनुष्य रणभूमिमें सो रहे थे
tad idaṁ naḥ kṛtaṁ ghoraṁ rakṣobhiḥ krūrakarmabhiḥ | iti lālapyamānāḥ samaśerate bahavo janāḥ ||
Dijo Sañjaya: «Esta terrible calamidad nos ha sido infligida por los rākṣasas de obras crueles». Lamentándose así, muchos hombres yacían juntos, esparcidos y dormidos sobre el campo de batalla, rendidos entre el terror nocturno.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical horror of war when it descends into night-terror and indiscriminate cruelty: human beings, overwhelmed and powerless, can only lament as violence strips them of agency and dignity—highlighting the Mahābhārata’s recurring warning about adharma multiplying suffering.
Sañjaya reports that many people on the battlefield, exhausted and stricken, are lying together while crying out that rākṣasas of cruel deeds have caused their dreadful plight—evoking the chaos and fear associated with the nocturnal slaughter in the Sauptika episode.