Shloka 85
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
अश्वत्थामा पुन: उछलने और अपने ऊपर आक्रमण करनेवाले दूसरे-दूसरे नरश्रेष्ठ शूरवीरोंको दूरसे भी मारकर कालरात्रिके हवाले कर देता था ।। तथैव स्यन्दनाग्रेण प्रमथन् स विधावति । शरवर्षैश्ष॒ विविधैरवर्षच्छात्रवांस्तत:,वह अपने रथके अग्रभागसे शत्रुओंको कुचलता हुआ सब ओर दौड़ लगाता और नाना प्रकारके बाणोंकी वर्षासे शत्रुसैनिकोंको घायल करता था
sañjaya uvāca | aśvatthāmā punaḥ ucchalane ca svopari ākramaṇaśīlān anyonyān naraśreṣṭha-śūrān dūrata eva mārayitvā kālarātryā havāle karoti sma || tathaiva syandanāgreṇa pramathan sa vidhāvati | śaravarṣaiś ca vividhair avarṣac chatravāṃs tataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Aśvatthāmā again and again struck down, even from a distance, those foremost warriors who were leaping about and rushing to attack him, consigning them to Kālarātri (the night of death). In the same way, he sped in every direction, crushing enemies with the forepart of his chariot, and he showered them with diverse volleys of arrows, wounding and felling the hostile troops. The passage underscores the grim, night-bound ferocity of battle, where prowess turns into indiscriminate slaughter and the moral horizon darkens under the sway of death.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the darkness of war—especially the Sauptika night—martial skill can become sheer destruction, symbolized by Kālarātri. It invites ethical reflection on violence that exceeds righteous combat and on how rage and vengeance can eclipse dharma.
Sañjaya describes Aśvatthāmā rampaging through the battlefield at night: he kills attacking warriors even from a distance, tramples foes with the front of his chariot, and rains down varied arrows, injuring and cutting down enemy soldiers.