Shloka 43
धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)
यत्र शूरा महेष्वासा: कृतास्त्रा युद्धदुर्मदा:,निहता: समरे सर्वे किमन्यद् भागधेयत: । सूत संजय! जहाँ समरभूमिमें नाना देशोंसे आये हुए देवराज इन्द्रके समान पराक्रमी बहुत-से शूरवीर महाथनुर्धर, अस्त्रवेत्ता एवं युद्धदुर्मद क्षत्रिय सारे-के-सारे मार डाले गये, वहाँ भाग्यके अतिरिक्त दूसरा क्या कारण हो सकता है?
yatra śūrā maheṣvāsāḥ kṛtāstrā yuddha-durmadāḥ, nihatāḥ samare sarve kim anyad bhāgadhayataḥ.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Where, on the battlefield, all those heroes—mighty bowmen, fully trained in weapons, and intoxicated with the pride of war—have been slain, what cause can there be other than destiny itself?”
धघतयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames catastrophic loss in war as governed by bhāgadhaya (destiny/one’s allotted portion), highlighting a common Mahābhārata tension between human effort (vīrya, śaurya) and the overpowering force of fate—often voiced in moments of grief and moral bewilderment.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing Sañjaya’s report of the slaughter of many formidable warriors, reacts with stunned fatalism: if even such expert, proud fighters have all fallen, he concludes that no explanation seems adequate except destiny.