Shloka 127
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
स्तनतां च मनुष्याणामपरेषां च कूजताम् । ततो मुहूर्तात् प्राशाम्यत् स शब्दस्तुमुलो महान्
stanatāṁ ca manuṣyāṇām apareṣāṁ ca kūjatām | tato muhūrtāt prāśāmyat sa śabdas tumulo mahān ||
Dijo Sañjaya: «Se oían los gemidos de unos hombres y los gritos de otros; pero al cabo de un breve instante, aquel vasto y tumultuoso clamor se apagó».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fleeting nature of worldly clamor and the stark impermanence of life in war: intense cries and chaos can vanish quickly, leaving silence that testifies to loss. Ethically, it points to the human cost of violence and the moral weight of actions that reduce living voices to quiet.
Sañjaya reports that amid the night’s terror there were groans and wails from people, but soon the great uproar died down—implying that resistance and cries ceased as the slaughter or devastation reached its grim completion and the scene fell into silence.