Shloka 44
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
ततः प्रववृते युद्ध कुरूणां पाण्डवैः सह । अक्षद्यूतकृतं राजन् सुघोरं वैशसं तदा
tataḥ pravavṛte yuddhaṁ kurūṇāṁ pāṇḍavaiḥ saha | akṣadyūtakṛtaṁ rājan sughoraṁ vaiśasaṁ tadā ||
Sañjaya dit : «Alors commença la guerre entre les Kuru et les Pāṇḍava, ô roi—un affrontement d’une horreur extrême et ruineux, né du forfait du jeu de dés.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the Kurukṣetra war as a moral consequence: a catastrophic conflict set in motion by the wrongdoing and injustice of the dice-game (akṣadyūta). It highlights how adharma in governance and conduct can culminate in collective ruin.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battle between the Kuru forces and the Pāṇḍavas has now begun, characterizing it as extremely dreadful and destructive, and explicitly linking its cause to the earlier dice-game episode.