Shloka 127
वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च
The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel
अथ प्रववृते युद्ध द्रौणिराक्षसयोर्मुधे । विभावर्या सुतुमुलं शक्रप्रह्लादयोरिव,तदनन्तर रणभूमिमें रात्रिके समय द्रोणकुमार अश्वत्थामा तथा राक्षस घटोत्कचका इन्द्र और प्रह्नादके समान अत्यन्त भयंकर युद्ध आरम्भ हुआ
atha pravavṛte yuddhaṃ drauṇirākṣasayor mudhe | vibhāvaryā sutumulaṃ śakraprahlādayor iva ||
Sañjaya said: Then, in the thick of battle, a fierce fight began between Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāmā) and the rākṣasa (Ghaṭotkaca). In the night it swelled into a most tumultuous clash, like that of Indra and Prahlāda—evoking the moral tension of a war where prowess and wrath surge under darkness, and the line between righteous valor and destructive fury grows perilously thin.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war, especially at night, amplifies chaos and passion; by comparing the clash to Indra and Prahlāda, it frames the encounter as more than physical combat—an eruption of cosmic-scale hostility that warns of how quickly violence can exceed moral control.
Sañjaya reports that a terrifying nighttime battle begins between Aśvatthāmā (Droṇa’s son) and the rākṣasa warrior Ghaṭotkaca, becoming extremely tumultuous, likened to the legendary conflict between Indra and Prahlāda.