Shloka 553
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
पाण्डूनां सह पज्चालैद्रोणपुत्र: प्रतापवान् । इस प्रकार विचार करके प्रतापी द्रोणपुत्रने रातको सोते समय पांचालोंसहित पाण्डवोंको मार डालनेका निश्चय किया
pāṇḍūnāṃ saha pāñcālaiḥ droṇaputraḥ pratāpavān | iti prakāraṃ vicārya pratāpī droṇaputro rātrau sote samaye pāñcālāṃs saha pāṇḍavān mārayituṃ niścayaṃ cakāra |
サञ्जयは言った。「かく思案して、武威あるドローナの子は、夜、彼らが眠りにある時に、パーンダヴァらをパーンチャーラとともに討ち滅ぼすと決した。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how reflection can be bent toward destructive resolve: choosing to kill sleeping foes signals a collapse of warrior-ethics and dharma, showing how vengeance and despair can drive one into morally darker forms of violence.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā (Droṇa’s son), after deliberation, decides to attack at night and kill the Pāṇḍavas along with the Pāñcālas while they are asleep—setting up the infamous nocturnal slaughter central to the Sauptika Parva.