Shloka 17
Abhimanyu’s Śrāddha; Vyāsa’s Assurance of the Unborn Heir (अभिमन्योः श्राद्धं तथा गर्भरक्षणोपदेशः)
निहत्य पृथिवीपालान् सहस्रशतसंघश:
nihatya pṛthivīpālān sahasraśatasaṅghaśaḥ
Vaiśampāyana dit : Après avoir abattu les souverains de la terre par groupes de centaines et de milliers, (il/ils) poursuivirent leur marche — image d’une conquête écrasante, qui souligne pourtant le lourd fardeau moral d’une victoire acquise par la violence de masse.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The line highlights the scale of warfare and conquest and implicitly raises the ethical burden of kingship: victory and political order often come at the cost of immense bloodshed, inviting reflection on dharma, restraint, and the consequences of violence.
The narrator describes a campaign or sequence of battles in which numerous kings are killed in large numbers—"by hundreds and thousands"—conveying the magnitude of conflict within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s post-war political consolidation.