Shloka 46
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
तद् रूप॑ तस्य ते दृष्टवा क्षत्रिया: शत्रुकर्षिण: । राक्षसं मन््यमानास्तं नयनानि न्यमीलयन्,वे शत्रुसूदन क्षत्रिय अश्वत्थामाका वह रूप देख उसे राक्षस समझकर आँखें मूँद लेते थे
tad rūpaṃ tasya te dṛṣṭvā kṣatriyāḥ śatrukarṣiṇaḥ | rākṣasaṃ manyamānās taṃ nayanāni nyamīlayan ||
Sañjaya said: Seeing that form of his, those battle-hardened kṣatriyas—men who had long harassed their foes—took him to be a rākṣasa. Overcome by dread at the inhuman spectacle, they shut their eyes. The scene underscores how war, when driven by rage and night-violence, can push even warriors beyond the bounds of human conduct and perception, turning the battlefield into a realm of terror rather than dharma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how actions driven by rage and vengeance in war can appear ‘demonic’ even to seasoned warriors, signaling a fall from dharma into terror and moral disorder.
Sañjaya describes warriors who, upon seeing a frightening form (implied to be that of a combatant in the night episode), mistake him for a rākṣasa and shut their eyes out of भय (fear).