Shloka 146
प्राबोधयत पादेन शयनस्थं महीपते । भूपाल! अअभश्वत्थामाने निश्चिन्त एवं निर्भय होकर शय्यापर सोये हुए महामनस्वी धृष्टद्युम्मको पैरसे ठोकर मारकर जगाया,यथैव संसुप्तजने शिबिरे प्राविशन्निशि
prābodhayat pādena śayanasthaṃ mahīpate | bhūpāla! aśvatthāmā niścinta evaṃ nirbhayaḥ śayyāparo soye hue mahāmanasvī dhṛṣṭadyumnako pair se ṭhokar mārakar jagāyā, yathaiva saṃsuptajane śibire prāviśann niśi |
Sañjaya said: O king, Aśvatthāmā—utterly untroubled and fearless—roused the high-minded Dhṛṣṭadyumna as he lay asleep on his bed, striking him with his foot. In the same manner he moved through the camp at night while the people lay fast asleep, carrying out his grim purpose. The episode underscores how, when restraint and righteous conduct collapse in war, night-violence against the defenseless becomes a moral nadir, even when driven by vengeance.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical collapse that occurs when vengeance overrides dharma: attacking and humiliating a sleeping, defenseless opponent is portrayed as a grave moral low point, warning that victory pursued without restraint becomes spiritually and socially corrosive.
Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how Aśvatthāmā, moving through the camp at night while everyone slept, woke Dhṛṣṭadyumna by striking him with his foot—an act of contempt preceding the broader nocturnal slaughter in the Sauptika episode.