Shloka 9
अमोघशक्तिव्यंसनप्रश्नः — Why Karṇa’s Śakti Was Not Used on Arjuna
हतांश्चैव विषक्तांश्व॒ पराभूतांश्व॒ शंससि । रथिनो विरथांश्वैव कृतान् युद्धेषु मामकान्,तुम प्रत्येक युद्धमें मेरे रथियोंकों हताहत, पराजित तथा रथहीन हुआ बताते हो
hatāṁś caiva viṣaktāṁś ca parābhūtāṁś ca śaṁsasi | rathino virathāṁś caiva kṛtān yuddheṣu māmakān ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “You keep reporting to me that my warriors—once proud chariot-fighters—have been slain, trapped and helpless, defeated, and even stripped of their chariots in battle.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral blindness that can arise from attachment: Dhṛtarāṣṭra hears repeated reports of loss yet frames them chiefly as “my men” being reduced from honored status to helplessness. It implicitly points to the ethical cost of possessiveness and partiality in leadership during war.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses Sañjaya (the battle-narrator) with distress, noting that Sañjaya keeps describing Kaurava chariot-warriors as slain, trapped, defeated, and made chariotless—signaling the worsening condition of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s side in the Drona Parva battles.