Shloka 90
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
विमुक्तकेशाश्षाप्यन्ये नाभ्यजानन् परस्परम् । उत्पतन्तो5पतन_ श्रान्ता: केचित् तत्रा भ्रमंस्तदा,दूसरे बहुत-से योद्धा बाल बिखेरे हुए भागते थे। उस दशामें वे एक-दूसरेको पहचान नहीं पाते थे। कोई उछलते हुए भागते और थककर गिर जाते थे तथा कोई उसी स्थानपर चक्कर काटते रहते थे
vimuktakeśāś cāpy anye nābhyajānann parasparam | utpatanto 'patan śrāntāḥ kecit tatrā bhramaṃs tadā ||
Sanjaya said: Others too, with their hair loosened in panic, could not recognize one another. Some, trying to flee, would leap up and then collapse from exhaustion; others, in that very place, wandered about in confusion. The scene underscores how fear and disorder in war strip people of clarity, identity, and mutual recognition.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
War’s violence culminates in moral and psychological collapse: fear and exhaustion erase discernment and even basic recognition of one’s own companions, illustrating the dehumanizing consequences of adharma-driven conflict.
Sanjaya describes the battlefield aftermath: warriors, hair dishevelled, flee in terror; they cannot identify one another, some run and collapse from fatigue, while others stagger and circle about in confusion.