Shloka 79
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
क्रोशतां किमिदं को5यं क: शब्द: कि नु कि कृतम् । एवं तेषां तथा द्रौणिरन्तक: समपद्यत,घायल वीर चिल्ला-चिल्लाकर कहते थे कि “यह क्या है? यह कौन है? यह कैसा कोलाहल हो रहा है? यह क्या कर डाला?' इस प्रकार चीखते हुए उन सब योद्धाओंके लिये द्रोणकुमार अश्वत्थामा काल बन गया था
krośatāṃ kim idaṃ ko 'yaṃ kaḥ śabdaḥ kiṃ nu kiṃ kṛtam | evaṃ teṣāṃ tathā drauṇir antakaḥ samapadyata ||
Sañjaya said: “As they cried out—‘What is this? Who is this? What is that sound? What indeed has been done?’—in that very manner, for all those warriors, Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāman) became Death itself. The verse underscores the terror and moral collapse of the night massacre: bewildered victims, unable to identify the assailant or the deed, face a violence that has slipped beyond the codes of open battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare, when it abandons recognized codes (open combat, identifiable opponents), turns into sheer terror and moral darkness. Aśvatthāman is portrayed as ‘Antaka’—death incarnate—signaling the ethical extremity of the act and the helplessness of those who cannot even comprehend what is happening.
During the night slaughter in the sleeping camp, the attacked warriors cry out in confusion—asking what the commotion is, who the attacker is, and what deed has been done. In that chaos, Aśvatthāman (Droṇa’s son) effectively becomes ‘Death’ to them, cutting them down while they are bewildered and vulnerable.