Shloka 13
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 50 — Arjuna’s foreboding and lament for Abhimanyu; Kṛṣṇa’s dharma-consolation
पिबन्ति चाश्नन्ति च यत्र दुर्देशा: पिशाचसंघास्तु नदन्ति भैरवा: । सुनन्दिता: प्राणभृतां क्षयड्करा: समानभक्षा: श्वशृगालपक्षिण:,जिनकी ओर देखना भी कठिन था, ऐसे भयंकर पिशाचसमूह वहाँ खाते-पीते और गर्जना करते थे। समस्त प्राणियोंका विनाश करनेवाले वे पिशाच बहुत ही प्रसन्न थे। कुत्तों, सियारों और पक्षियोंको भी समानरूपसे भोजनसामग्री प्राप्त हुई थी
pibanti cāśnanti ca yatra durdeśāḥ piśācasaṅghās tu nadanti bhairavāḥ | sunanditāḥ prāṇabhṛtāṁ kṣayakarāḥ samānabhakṣāḥ śvaśṛgālapakṣiṇaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “In that dreadful quarter—hard even to look upon—terrifying hordes of piśācas were seen drinking and eating, roaring with fearsome cries. Delighting in the ruin of living beings, those agents of destruction exulted; and dogs, jackals, and birds too found the same fare, feeding alike amid the carnage.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral inversion produced by war: when slaughter dominates, even inhuman forces are imagined as rejoicing, and scavengers feed without distinction. It functions as a warning about adharma and the dehumanizing consequences of unchecked violence.
Sañjaya describes a terrifying scene associated with the battlefield: dreadful piśāca-hosts are envisioned as eating and drinking while roaring, delighted in the destruction of life; simultaneously, dogs, jackals, and birds feed alike on what the battle has produced.