Shloka 25
गदायुद्ध-समारम्भः
Commencement of the Mace-Duel Proceedings
विस्तरश्रवणे जातं कौतूहलमतीव मे । तब रोहिणीनन्दन बलरामने दीनवाणीमें नारदजीसे पूछा--“तपोधन! जो राजा लोग वहाँ उपस्थित हुए थे, उन सब क्षत्रियोंकी क्या अवस्था हुई है, यह सब तो मैंने पहले ही सुन लिया था। इस समय कुछ विशेष और विस्तृत समाचार जाननेके लिये मेरे मनमें अत्यन्त उत्सुकता हुई है' ।। नारद उवाच पूर्वमेव हतो भीष्मो द्रोण: सिन्धुपतिस्तथा
Nārada uvāca | pūrvam eva hato Bhīṣmo Droṇaḥ Sindhupatiḥ tathā |
Nārada said: “Earlier indeed Bhīṣma was slain; Droṇa too, and likewise the lord of Sindhu. These foremost warriors had already fallen before the later events you ask about—showing how the war’s momentum, once set in motion by adharma and pride, consumed even the greatest elders and teachers.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inexorable consequences of a war driven by adharma: even venerable elders and revered teachers—symbols of authority and tradition—are not spared once violence and rivalry dominate. It frames the later narrative against the moral weight of earlier, irreversible losses.
Nārada begins his reply by summarizing prior key deaths in the Kurukṣetra war—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and the Sindhu lord (Jayadratha)—as a preface to giving further details about subsequent events and the condition of the warriors.