Shloka 18
सिन्धुराजवधेनेमे घटोत्कचवधेन ते । अमर्षिता: सुसंक्रुद्धा रणं चक्र: कथं निशि,सिंधुराज जयद्रथके वधसे अमर्षमें भरे हुए कौरवों तथा घटोत्कचके मारे जानेसे अत्यन्त कुपित हुए पाण्डवोंने रात्रिमें किस प्रकार युद्ध किया?
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
sindhurājavadhene me ghaṭotkacavadhena te |
amarṣitāḥ susaṁkruddhā raṇaṁ cakruḥ kathaṁ niśi ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “After the slaying of the king of Sindhu (Jayadratha) and after the killing of Ghaṭotkaca, how did the Pāṇḍavas—burning with resentment and inflamed with fierce anger—carry on the battle during the night?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how grief and outrage can intensify conflict, pushing warriors beyond ordinary limits (even into night-fighting). It frames the ethical tension in war: emotions like amarṣa (indignant resentment) and krodha (anger) can drive action, yet they also deepen the cycle of retaliation that dharma struggles to restrain.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya to explain how the Pāṇḍavas continued fighting at night after two major deaths: Jayadratha (the Sindhu king) and Ghaṭotkaca. The question points to the extraordinary, chaotic conditions of the war’s later phase, when rage and urgency overrode normal battlefield conventions.