Shloka 72
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
विरथान् विह्नलांश्षक्रे न तु प्राणै््ययोजयत् । भीमसेनेन तु वध: पुत्राणां ते प्रतिश्रुतः
virathān vihvalāṁś cakre na tu prāṇair viyojayat | bhīmasenena tu vadhaḥ putrāṇāṁ te pratiśrutaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: He rendered them chariotless and bewildered, yet he did not deprive them of their lives. But the slaying of your sons had been vowed to Bhīmasena—an ethical restraint in the moment, set against a prior oath of retribution that would still seek its due amid the war’s harsh necessities.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, restraint can operate within dharma: a warrior may incapacitate opponents without killing them, yet the larger moral economy of vows and consequences (pratiśruti) continues to shape what must later occur.
Sañjaya reports that the combatant in question defeated certain warriors by making them chariotless and disoriented but spared their lives; nevertheless, the eventual killing of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons is linked to Bhīmasena’s prior vow.