Shloka 7
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
दुर्योधनापराधेन शकुने: सौबलस्य च । क्षत्रिया निधन यान्ति कर्णदुर्मन्त्रितेन च,“दुर्योधनके अपराधसे और सुबलपुत्र शकुनि तथा कर्णकी कुमन्त्रणासे ये क्षत्रिय मारे जा रहे हैं
duryodhanāparādhena śakuneḥ saubalasya ca | kṣatriyā nidhanaṃ yānti karṇadurmantritena ca ||
Sañjaya said: “Because of Duryodhana’s wrongdoing—and also through the agency of Śakuni, son of Subala, and through Karṇa’s ruinous counsel—these kṣatriya warriors are being driven to death. The slaughter unfolding is not mere fate; it is the moral consequence of pride, deceit, and reckless advice that has pushed the noble order into self-destruction.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral responsibility in war: mass destruction is traced to identifiable human faults—Duryodhana’s wrongdoing, Śakuni’s manipulative influence, and Karṇa’s harmful counsel. It underscores that adharma in leadership and advice turns kṣatriya valor into collective ruin.
Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, laments that the ongoing deaths of warriors are being caused by the Kaurava side’s key instigators. He frames the carnage as the outcome of Duryodhana’s culpability, aided by Śakuni and reinforced by Karṇa’s misguided strategic urging.