Shloka 3
Adhyāya 65: Dawn Assembly, Makara–Śyena Vyūhas, and Commander Engagements
हीनान् पुरुषकारेण मामकानद्य संजय । पातितान् पात्यमानांश्व हतानेव च शंससि,संजय! आजकल मेरे पुत्र और सैनिक पुरुषार्थसे हीन हो रहे हैं और शत्रुओंने उन्हें धराशायी किया एवं मार डाला है। प्रतिदिन वे शत्रुओंके हाथसे मारे ही जा रहे हैं। उनके सम्बन्धमें तुम सदा ऐसे ही समाचार देते हो
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
hīnān puruṣakāreṇa māmakān adya sañjaya |
pātitān pātyamānāṁś ca hatān eva ca śaṁsasi, sañjaya ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, today you report my sons’ men as lacking in manly effort. You speak of them as already struck down, being struck down, and as good as slain. Day after day they are being killed at the enemy’s hands—and you keep bringing me the same grim tidings.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between puruṣakāra (human effort/valor) and the crushing momentum of war: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s attachment makes him fixate on reports of defeat, revealing how grief and partiality distort judgment and keep one trapped in repetitive, painful narratives.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts to Sañjaya’s battlefield report, complaining that Sañjaya keeps describing the Kaurava side as lacking valor and as being continually felled and slain by the enemy, day after day.