Shloka 26
पृथिव्यां राजवंश्यानामुत्थिते महति क्षये । नततत्र कर्ण द्रोणं वा नार्जुनं न युधिषछ्तिरम्
pṛthivyāṃ rājavaṃśyānām utthite mahati kṣaye | na tatra karṇa-droṇaṃ vā nārjunaṃ na yudhiṣṭhiram ||
Sañjaya said: “When that great destruction of royal lineages arose upon the earth, there was none there—neither Karṇa nor Droṇa, neither Arjuna nor Yudhiṣṭhira.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic, leveling nature of war: even the greatest heroes and exemplars of martial and moral stature are absent in the wake of a ‘great destruction’ of royal houses, highlighting impermanence and the grave ethical cost of dynastic conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra about a moment characterized by immense slaughter among royal lineages; in that scene, prominent figures—Karṇa, Droṇa, Arjuna, and Yudhiṣṭhira—are stated to be ‘not there,’ implying their absence from that particular situation or field at that time amid the broader devastation.