Shloka 53
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
खड्गं च विमलं दिव्यं जातरूपपरिष्कृतम् । तदनन्तर पिताके वधका स्मरण करके वह अत्यन्त कुपित हो उठा और रथकी बैठकसे उतरकर सहसों चन्द्राकार चिह्नोंसे युक्त चमकीली ढाल और सुवर्णभूषित दिव्य एवं निर्मल खडग लेकर युद्धमें बड़ी उतावलीके साथ उनकी ओर दौड़ा ।। ५१-५२ ह ।। द्रौपदेयानभिद्रुत्य खड्गेन व्यधमद् बली,उस बलवान वीरने द्रौपदीके पुत्रोंपर आक्रमण करके उन्हें खड़्गसे छिन्न-भिन्न कर दिया। राजन! उस समय पुरुषसिंह अश्वत्थामाने उस महासमरमें प्रतिविन्ध्यको उसकी कोखमें तलवार भोंककर मार डाला। वह मरकर पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ा
khaḍgaṃ ca vimalaṃ divyaṃ jātarūpa-pariṣkṛtam | tad-anantaraṃ pitṛ-vadhaka-smaraṇāt sa atyantaṃ kupito 'bhavat, ratha-niṣaṇṇāt avatīrya sahasra-candrākāra-cihnaiḥ yuktāṃ camatkṛtāṃ phalakāṃ gṛhītvā suvarṇa-bhūṣitaṃ divyaṃ vimalaṃ ca khaḍgaṃ gṛhītvā yuddhe mahā-utsukatayā teṣāṃ prati dhāvata | draupadeyān abhidrutya khaḍgena vyadhamad balī; rājann, tadā puruṣa-siṃha aśvatthāmā tasmin mahā-samare prativindhyaṃ kukṣau asiṃ praveśya jaghāna; sa hataḥ pṛthivyāṃ papāta |
Sañjaya said: Taking up a spotless, divine sword, richly adorned with gold, he—after recalling the slaying of his father—was seized by fierce anger. He leapt down from the chariot-seat, grasped a shining shield marked with countless moon-like emblems, and, with the gold-ornamented, immaculate sword in hand, rushed toward them in great haste for battle. Charging at the sons of Draupadī, the mighty warrior cut them down with his sword. O King, in that great fight Aśvatthāmā, lion among men, stabbed Prativindhya in the belly with his blade and killed him; struck down, he fell upon the earth. Ethically, the passage frames a retaliatory fury—grief and vengeance overriding restraint—culminating in the slaughter of sleeping, unarmed heirs, a stark violation of righteous warfare and a dark turning-point in the epic’s moral landscape.
संजय उवाच