Shloka 143
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
प्रत्यूषकाले शिबिरात् प्रतिगन्तुमियेष सः । नृशोणितावसिक्तस्य द्रौणेरासीदसित्सरु:
pratyūṣakāle śibirāt pratigantum iyeṣa saḥ | nṛśoṇitāvasiktasya drauṇer āsīd asitsaruḥ ||
Dijo Sañjaya: Al despuntar el alba, quiso regresar desde el campamento. Pero la espada del hijo de Droṇa estaba oscurecida—la hoja, embadurnada de sangre humana—señal del lúgubre desenlace de la violencia nocturna y de la mancha moral que se adhiere a tal matanza.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how acts of extreme violence—especially those associated with night-time slaughter—leave an enduring moral taint. The blood-smeared sword becomes a symbol of adharma and the ethical consequences that follow from transgressive warfare.
At dawn, the figure in question intends to leave/return from the camp, while the narration highlights that Aśvatthāman’s sword is smeared with human blood—pointing to the brutal killings that have just occurred during the night in the Sauptika episode.