Shloka 57
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
तावकानां च समरे पाण्डवेयैर्युयुत्सताम् । शत्रुओंके साथ जूझनेवाले पाण्डवोंका और पाण्डवोंके साथ युद्धकी इच्छा रखनेवाले आपके सैनिकोंका सारा सैन्यदल समरांगणमें परस्पर मिलकर एक-सा हो गया ।।
sañjaya uvāca | tāvakānāṃ ca samare pāṇḍaveyair yuyutsatām | sarvaṃ sainyaṃ samāgamya samaraṅgaṇe parasparam ekaṃ rūpam ivābhavat || tatra yodhās tadā petuḥ paraspara-samāhatāḥ | ubhayoḥ senayor rājan saṃśocantaḥ sva-bāndhavān ||
Sañjaya berkata: Dalam pertempuran itu, para prajuritmu yang mendambakan laga melawan putra-putra Pāṇḍu, dan para Pāṇḍawa yang bertempur melawan pasukanmu—ketika kedua bala bertemu di medan, seluruh pasukan berbaur rapat menjadi satu massa yang sukar dibedakan. Di sana, wahai Raja, para kesatria dari kedua pihak, saling menebas dan saling menjatuhkan, rebah ke bumi sambil meratapi sanak-keluarga mereka sendiri, meski perang terus mengamuk.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid justified martial duty, war—especially among kin—produces moral anguish: fighters become indistinguishable in the chaos, and victory is shadowed by grief for one’s own relatives. The verse underscores the ethical tragedy of internecine conflict and the human cost that dharma cannot erase.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava armies have closed in so tightly that they appear as one mass on the battlefield. Warriors on both sides strike each other down and fall, while simultaneously mourning their own kinsmen caught and killed in the same struggle.