Shloka 283
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
सहितै रक्षिश्रि: सर्वे: प्राणेदुर्योषितस्तदा । महारथी द्रोणपुत्रके वहाँसे हट जानेपर एकत्र हुए सम्पूर्ण रक्षकोंसहित धृष्टद्युम्नकी रानियाँ फ़ूट-फ़ूटकर रोने लगीं
sa-hitai rakṣiśriḥ sarvaiḥ prāṇedur yoṣitas tadā | mahārathī droṇaputrake vahāṁse haṭa jānepara ekatra huye sampūrṇa rakṣakoṁsahit dhṛṣṭadyumnakī rāniyāṁ phūṭ-phūṭkar rone lagīṁ
Sañjaya said: Then the women, together with all the guards, were overcome with grief. When the great chariot-warrior, Droṇa’s son, withdrew from that place, Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s queens gathered with the full contingent of protectors and began to weep aloud, their lamentation breaking forth uncontrollably—an image of war’s aftermath where the innocent bear the heaviest moral cost.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical residue of war: even when warriors act and move on, the suffering falls heavily on non-combatants—here, the royal women—highlighting the human cost that persists beyond the battlefield.
After Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāmā) leaves the spot, Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s queens, accompanied by the guards, gather together and break into intense mourning, indicating the immediate emotional aftermath of the night’s violence in the Sauptika episode.