Shloka 21
आत्मानं समरे जघ्नु: स्वानेव च परानपि | नानावाचो विमुञ्चन्तो निद्रान्धास्ते महारणे,दूसरे सैनिक शत्रुओंको स्वप्नमें पड़कर अत्यन्त वेसुध हुए देख उन्हें मार बैठते थे। कुछ लोग उस महासमरमें निद्रान्ध होकर नाना प्रकारकी बातें कहते हुए कभी अपने-आपपर ही प्रहार कर बैठते थे, कभी अपने पक्षके ही लोगोंको मार डालते थे और कभी शत्रुओंका भी वध करते थे
ātmānaṃ samare jaghnuḥ svān eva ca parān api | nānāvāco vimuñcanto nidrāndhās te mahāraṇe ||
Sañjaya said: In that great battle, blinded by sleep, they struck down even themselves—killing their own men as well as enemies. Babbling incoherently in many ways, they moved about in a stupor, dealing blows without discernment, so that self-harm and the slaying of friend and foe alike occurred amid the chaos.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how loss of awareness (here, sleep-stupor) destroys ethical discernment in war: when clarity and self-control collapse, violence becomes indiscriminate, leading to self-harm and the killing of one’s own side as well as the enemy—an implicit warning about the moral and practical ruin caused by delusion and negligence.
Sañjaya describes a moment of extreme battlefield disorder where combatants, dazed as if asleep, mutter incoherently and strike at random. In that confusion they end up wounding or killing themselves, their allies, and their opponents alike.