Shloka 47
Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)
निजघान पिता पुत्र पुत्रश्न॒ पितरं रणे । स्वस्रीयो मातुलं चापि स्वस्रीयं चापि मातुल:
nijaghāna pitā putraṁ putraś ca pitaraṁ raṇe | svasrīyo mātulaṁ cāpi svasrīyaṁ cāpi mātulaḥ ||
サンジャヤは言った。「戦の狂乱の中で、父はわが子を討ち、子はわが父を討った。姉妹の子は母方の叔父を斬り、母方の叔父もまた姉妹の子を斬った。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical catastrophe of war: when conflict becomes total, even the most sacred familial bonds (father–son, uncle–nephew) are overturned. It implicitly warns that adharma in warfare manifests as the breakdown of natural duties and affections, revealing war’s power to erode dharma at the level of family itself.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene where close relatives, caught on opposing sides, kill one another—father against son, and maternal uncle against sister’s son—emphasizing the ferocity and confusion of the Kurukṣetra war and its grievous human cost.