Shloka 126
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
तदिदं नः कृतं घोर रक्षोभि: क्रूरकर्मभि: । इति लालप्यमाना: सम शेरते बहवो जना:
tad idaṁ naḥ kṛtaṁ ghoraṁ rakṣobhiḥ krūrakarmabhiḥ | iti lālapyamānāḥ samaśerate bahavo janāḥ ||
サञ्जयは言った。「この恐るべき災厄は、残虐な業をなす羅刹たちによって我らに加えられたのだ。」そう嘆きながら、多くの人々は戦場に寄り集まって散り伏し、疲れ果てて眠りに落ちていた――夜の恐怖のただ中で。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical horror of war when it descends into night-terror and indiscriminate cruelty: human beings, overwhelmed and powerless, can only lament as violence strips them of agency and dignity—highlighting the Mahābhārata’s recurring warning about adharma multiplying suffering.
Sañjaya reports that many people on the battlefield, exhausted and stricken, are lying together while crying out that rākṣasas of cruel deeds have caused their dreadful plight—evoking the chaos and fear associated with the nocturnal slaughter in the Sauptika episode.