Shloka 26
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शल्यपर्वमें धतराष्ट्रके ग्यारह पुत्रोंका वधविषयक छब्बीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,मम होतदशक्तं वै वाजिवृन्दमरिंदम
iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārate śalyaparvaṇi dhṛtarāṣṭrasya ekādaśa putrāṇāṁ vadhaviṣayakaḥ ṣaḍviṁśatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ | mama hotadaśaktaṁ vai vājivṛndaṁ arindama ||
Así concluye el capítulo vigésimo sexto del venerable Mahābhārata, en el Śalya Parva, relativo a la muerte de los once hijos de Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Sañjaya añade que su propia fuerza no bastaba frente a la masa compacta de caballos: confesión de que, en el derrumbe moral de la guerra, el empeño personal y la lealtad encuentran su límite ante la maquinaria abrumadora del combate.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a closing colophon and a reflective note: even committed witnesses and participants must acknowledge human limitation in the face of war’s vast, impersonal forces. It underscores the ethical tragedy that the conflict consumes lineages (Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons) and reduces agency to helplessness.
Sañjaya marks the completion of a chapter in the Śalya Parvan that concerns the killing of eleven sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and he remarks that he was not capable of withstanding or countering the great host of horses (cavalry), addressing an ‘enemy-subduer’ (arindama).