Shloka 91
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
शतशो निहता: शूरा: सात्वतेनार्जुनेन च,भारत! इसी प्रकार सात्यकि और अर्जुनने भी भीष्म और भगदत्त आदि सैकड़ों शूरवीरोंका संहार कर डाला है। राजन्! इस प्रकार आपकी कुमन्त्रणाके फलस्वरूप यह विनाश-कार्य सम्पन्न हुआ है
śataśo nihatāḥ śūrāḥ sātvatena arjunena ca | bhārata | evaṃprakāraṃ sātyakiḥ arjunaś ca bhīṣma-bhagadattādīn śataśaḥ śūrān saṃhṛtya nihatavān | rājan | evaṃ tava kumantraṇā-phala-svarūpaṃ idaṃ vināśa-kāryaṃ sampannaṃ ||
Sanjaya said: O Bharata, in the same manner hundreds of heroes have been slain by Sātyaki and by Arjuna. Thus Sātyaki and Arjuna have cut down hundreds of warriors such as Bhīṣma and Bhagadatta. O King, in this way the work of destruction has come to completion as the fruit of your misguided counsel.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral causality in political and ethical decision-making: destructive outcomes in war are not merely battlefield accidents but are portrayed as the ‘fruit’ of misguided counsel and wrongful policy. Sanjaya places responsibility on the king’s choices, implying that adharma in counsel ripens into collective ruin.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Satyaki and Arjuna have slain hundreds of warriors, naming prominent Kaurava-side figures like Bhishma and Bhagadatta among those cut down. He frames this slaughter as the consequence of Dhritarashtra’s ill-advised counsel, emphasizing the chain from decision to devastation.