Shloka 71
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
वहन्तीं विविधान् प्रेतान् पाशबद्धान् विमूर्धजान् | तथैव च सदा राजन् न्यस्तशस्त्रान् महारथान्,माननीय नरेश! मुख्य-मुख्य योद्धा अन्य रात्रियोंमें भी सपनेमें उस कालरात्रिको देखते थे। राजन! वह सदा नाना प्रकारके केशरहित प्रेतोंको अपने पाशोंमें बाँधकर लिये जाती दिखायी देती थी, इसी प्रकार हथियार डालकर सोये हुए महारथियोंको भी लिये जाती हुई स्वप्नमें दृष्टिगोचर होती थी। वे योद्धा सबका संहार करते हुए द्रोणकुमारको भी सदा सपनोंमें देखा करते थे
sañjaya uvāca |
vahantīṁ vividhān pretān pāśabaddhān vimūrdhajān |
tathaiva ca sadā rājan nyastaśastrān mahārathān ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, she was seen (in dreams) carrying away various kinds of spirits—bound fast in her nooses, their heads shorn. And likewise, O King, she was always seen carrying away great chariot-warriors who had laid aside their weapons.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and psychological weight of war: even mighty warriors are shown as vulnerable—disarmed and carried away by death—suggesting that violence and adharma culminate in inevitable ruin, often foreshadowed through ominous dreams.
Sañjaya reports to the king that ominous dream-visions appeared: a fearsome feminine figure associated with death is seen carrying away spirits bound in her nooses and also great warriors who have laid aside their weapons—portending slaughter in the Sauptika episode.