Shloka 12
ततो द्रौणि्महाराज बाष्पपूर्णेक्षण: श्वसन् | उवाच भरतश्रेष्ठ सर्वलोकेश्चरेश्वरम्,महाराज! उस समय अभ्व॒त्थामाकी आँखोंमें आँसू भर आये। वह सिसकता हुआ सम्पूर्ण जगत्के राजाधिराज भरतश्रेष्ठ दुर्योधनसे इस प्रकार बोला--
tato drauṇir mahārāja bāṣpa-pūrṇekṣaṇaḥ śvasan | uvāca bharataśreṣṭha sarvalokeśvareśvaram ||
Kemudian Aśvatthāman (Drauṇi), wahai Raja, dengan mata penuh air mata dan napas tersengal oleh isak, berbicara kepada Duryodhana—yang utama di antara para Bharata, penguasa di atas para penguasa segala dunia.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and psychological cost of adharma-driven conflict: power and status cannot prevent sorrow, and in the war’s closing phase emotions like grief and desperation begin to influence decisions, often foreshadowing morally fraught actions.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāman, overwhelmed and tearful, approaches and begins to speak to Duryodhana, addressing him with grand royal epithets—setting the stage for the counsel and plans that follow in the late-war context.