Shloka 65
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
शिखण्डिनं समासाद्य द्विधा चिच्छेद सो5सिना । तब महाबली द्रोणपुत्रने क्रोधोके आवेशमें आकर शिखण्डीके पास जा अपनी तलवारसे उसके दो टुकड़े कर डाले ।। ६४ ई ।। शिखण्डिनं ततो हत्वा क्रोधाविष्ट: परंतप:,क्रोधसे भरे हुए शत्रुसंतापी अश्वत्थामाने इस प्रकार शिखण्डीका वध करके समस्त प्रभद्रकोंपर बड़े वेगसे धावा किया। साथ ही, राजा विराटकी जो सेना शेष थी, उसपर भी जोरसे चढ़ाई कर दी
śikhaṇḍinaṃ samāsādya dvidhā ciccheda so 'sinā | tataḥ śikhaṇḍinaṃ hatvā krodhāviṣṭaḥ parantapaḥ sarvān prabhadrakān vegena samabhyadhāvat | virāṭasya ca yā senā śeṣā 'bhavat tām api balavac chūrayām āsa ||
Sañjaya said: Closing in upon Śikhaṇḍin, Aśvatthāmā cleft him in two with his sword. Having thus slain Śikhaṇḍin, the enemy-scorching warrior—seized by wrath—rushed with great speed against all the Prabhadrakas, and he also fell fiercely upon what remained of King Virāṭa’s forces. The passage underscores how, in the night of slaughter, anger overrides restraint and turns victory into indiscriminate devastation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how krodha (wrath) can eclipse discernment and dharmic restraint, turning combat into unchecked destruction; it implicitly warns that anger-driven action multiplies suffering and moral downfall.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā approaches Śikhaṇḍin and cuts him down with a sword; then, still inflamed with anger, he charges the Prabhadrakas and attacks the remaining troops of King Virāṭa.