Shloka 81
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
जो लोग नींदके कारण अंधे और अचेत-से हो रहे थे, वे उसके शब्दसे चौंककर उछल पड़े; किंतु पुन: भयसे व्याकुल हो जहाँ-तहाँ छिप गये
ye janā nidrā-kāraṇād andhā iva acetasaḥ prāyaḥ bhavanti sma, te tasya śabdena sahasā pratibuddhā utplutya samutthitāḥ; punaś ca bhayākulā yatra-tatra nilīyante sma.
Sañjaya said: Those men, dulled and almost senseless from sleep, were jolted awake by that sound and sprang up in alarm; yet, seized again by fear, they scattered and hid wherever they could. The scene underscores how terror in war can strip people of composure, driving them from alertness into panic and concealment.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and psychological collapse that accompanies nocturnal violence: when people are attacked in vulnerability, fear overwhelms discernment, and survival instinct replaces courage and order—an implicit critique of terror-driven warfare.
In the Sauptika episode, a sudden sound (from the attackers’ action) startles men who were half-unconscious with sleep; they jump up, then, gripped by fear, disperse and hide wherever possible.