Shloka 8
द्रोणपर्व — अध्याय ८७: सात्यकेरनुयात्रा
Sātyaki’s resolve and departure to reach Arjuna
शब्देन नादिताभी क्षणम भवद् _यत्र मे श्रुति: । दीनानामद्य तं शब्दं न शुणोमि समीरितम्
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
śabdena nāditābhī kṣaṇam abhavad yatra me śrutiḥ |
dīnānām adya taṃ śabdaṃ na śṛṇomi samīritam ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “There was a moment when my hearing was filled and shaken by that sound. But today I do not hear that cry of the distressed being raised.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical cost of war and partiality: a ruler who has enabled violence becomes haunted by the sounds of suffering, and the absence of those cries signals deeper calamity. It underscores responsibility (rājadharma) and the moral consequences of ignoring distress.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, relying on reports of the battlefield, recalls how his hearing was earlier overwhelmed by tumult and cries. Now he notes that he no longer hears the lament of the distressed, implying a frightening turn in the battle—either a sudden silence after slaughter or an ominous shift that intensifies his dread.