Shloka 119
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
किज्वित्प्राणैश्न पुरुषै्हतै श्चान्यी: सहस्रश:
kicit pr01ai ca puruai hatai c01nyai sahasra5ba
Sanjaya said: Some were still clinging to life-breath, while others—thousands besides—had already been slain. The scene underscores the moral collapse of the night-raid: in war’s frenzy, the boundary between combat and helplessness is erased, and the cost is counted in lives extinguished and lives barely remaining.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the human cost of adharma in warfare: when violence becomes indiscriminate, the difference between the living and the dead is reduced to a grim tally, warning against cruelty and loss of restraint.
Sanjaya reports the aftermath amid the night’s slaughter: some people are still alive, while many others—numbering in thousands—have already been killed.