Shloka 109
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
उनके यन्त्र और कवच गिर गये थे। वे बाल खोले, हाथ जोड़े, भयभीत हो थरथर काँपते हुए पृथ्वीपर खड़े थे, किंतु उन दोनोंने उनमेंसे किसीको भी जीवित नहीं छोड़ा। शिविरसे निकला हुआ कोई भी क्षत्रिय उन दोनोंके हाथसे जीवित नहीं छूट सका ।। कृपश्चैव महाराज हार्दिक्यश्चैव दुर्मति: । भूयश्वैव चिकीर्षन्तौ द्रोणपुत्रस्य तौ प्रियम्
kṛpaś caiva mahārāja hārdikyaś caiva durmatiḥ | bhūyaś caiva cikīrṣantau droṇaputrasya tau priyam ||
Sañjaya said: O great king, Kṛpa and the hard‑hearted Hārdikya (Kṛtavarman), both of perverse intent, again resolved to do what would please Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāman). In that night raid, the warriors who stood weaponless and unarmoured—hair dishevelled, hands folded in supplication, trembling with fear—were not spared; no kṣatriya who came out from the camp escaped alive from the hands of those two. The passage underscores the moral collapse of warfare into slaughter, where victory is pursued through terror rather than righteous combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how attachment and revenge can drive warriors to abandon the restraints of kṣatriya-dharma. Seeking to ‘please’ a leader (Aśvatthāman) becomes a motive that overrides compassion and the ethics of fair combat, turning war into indiscriminate killing.
After the great war, during the night attack on the Pāṇḍava camp, Kṛpa and Kṛtavarman act in concert with Aśvatthāman. They kill those who emerge from the camp—even the unarmed and supplicating—so that none escape alive, and they do so with the intention of fulfilling what Aśvatthāman desires.