Shloka 423
धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)
निहता बहवो यत्र किमन्यद् भागधेयतः । ये तथा और भी बहुत-से अस्त्रवेत्ता, रणदुर्मद, शूरवीर और परिघ-जैसी भुजाओंवाले राजा एवं राजकुमार अधिक संख्यामें मार डाले गये, वहाँ भाग्यके सिवा और क्या कारण बताया जाय?
nihitā bahavo yatra kim anyad bhāgadheyataḥ |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Where so many have been slain, what cause can be pointed to other than destiny? When numerous masters of weapons—battle-maddened, heroic kings and princes with arms like iron clubs—have been cut down in great numbers, what explanation remains except the allotment of fate?”
धघतयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames mass slaughter in war as something that appears driven by destiny (bhāgadheya), raising the ethical tension between human agency and fatalism—especially in a ruler’s attempt to explain catastrophic loss.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reflects on the immense casualties—kings, princes, and expert warriors—implying that such widespread destruction seems explainable only as fate’s allotment rather than any single tactical or personal cause.