Mahabharata 9.14.8 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 14, Shloka 8
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
नैतादृशं दृष्टपूर्व राजन् नैव च न श्रुतम्
naitādṛśaṃ dṛṣṭapūrva rājann naiva ca na śrutam
Sañjaya dit : Ô Roi, jamais on n’a vu pareille chose, et l’on n’en a même pas entendu parler. L’instant est donné comme sans précédent—un choc éthique au sein du récit de guerre—où les normes familières du combat et de la conduite humaine semblent dépassées ou renversées.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and psychological weight of witnessing extreme events: when actions in war cross familiar boundaries, they are marked as 'unseen and unheard-of,' prompting reflection on how adharma can escalate beyond precedent and how testimony (Sañjaya’s) frames ethical judgment.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that what is occurring on the battlefield is unprecedented—something neither seen before nor even heard of—signaling a climactic or shocking turn in the events of the Kurukṣetra war.
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