Shloka 55
Duryodhana-patana-anuśocana
The Fall of Duryodhana and the Contest of Restraint
मुमुचुस्ते महानादं तव पुत्रे निपातिते । वहाँ जो घोड़े, हाथी और मनुष्य शेष रह गये थे, वे सभी आपके पुत्रके मारे जानेपर महान् कोलाहल करने लगे ।। भेरीशड्खमृदज्ञानाम भवच्च स्वनो महान्
mumucus te mahānādaṃ tava putre nipātite | bherīśaṅkhamṛdaṅgānāṃ bhavac ca svano mahān ||
When your son was struck down, those remaining—horses, elephants, and men—burst into a tremendous uproar. The battlefield resounded with a great din of kettledrums, conches, and drums, expressing the shock and grief of the surviving host as the war’s violence consumed even its foremost figures.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the immediate human (and animal) response to loss in war: even amid martial duty, the fall of a prominent figure triggers collective shock and lament. It implicitly points to the ethical weight of violence—victory and death are inseparable from grief and upheaval.
After the speaker notes that ‘your son’ has been brought down, the remaining forces—horses, elephants, and men—raise a tremendous clamor. The battlefield becomes filled with the loud sounds of war-instruments like kettledrums, conches, and drums, marking a sudden surge of commotion following the death.