Shloka 203
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
कृपणं स्वरथे सन्नं पश्य कृष्ण यथागतम् । “निश्चय ही ये कृपाचार्य आहत होकर मुझे पुत्रवधकी अपेक्षा भी अधिक शोकमें डाल रहे हैं। श्रीकृष्ण! देखिये, वे अपने रथपर कैसे सन्न और दीन होकर पड़े हैं
kṛpaṇaṁ svarathe sannaṁ paśya kṛṣṇa yathāgatam |
Sañjaya said: “O Kṛṣṇa, look at him—wretched and utterly dejected—slumped upon his own chariot, just as he has come to this state. The sight of the venerable teacher, struck down and reduced to helplessness, deepens the grief of those who witness it, revealing how war humiliates even the great and how compassion and duty collide on the battlefield.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral cost of war: even revered figures can be brought to a pitiable state, and witnessing such a fall intensifies grief and ethical tension between duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and compassion.
Sañjaya directs Kṛṣṇa’s attention to a warrior/elder who is sitting collapsed and dejected on his own chariot, emphasizing his weakened condition and the sorrow it causes onlookers amid the Drona Parva battle events.