Shloka 25
शल्यपर्व — चतुर्विंशोऽध्यायः | Śalya Parva, Chapter 24: Disruption of Kaurava Formations and the Elephant Encirclement
अल्पावशिटष्टे सैन्येडस्मिन् सूतपुत्रे च पातिते । सपुत्रे वै नरव्याप्रे नैवाशाम्यत वैशसम्
sañjaya uvāca |
alpāvaśiṣṭe sainye 'smin sūtaputre ca pātite |
saputre vai naravyāghre naivāśāmyata vaiśasam ||
サンジャヤは言った。たとえこの軍がわずかな残兵となり、車夫の子が討ち倒され、さらに虎のごとき猛き勇士とその子までもが斃れた後でさえ、殺戮は鎮まらなかった。ひとたび放たれた戦の暴力は容易に消えず、復讐と悲嘆が、すでに勝敗が定まったかに見える時でさえ、破滅の火を燃やし続けるのである。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how violence, once set in motion by rage, grief, and vengeance, can continue beyond strategic necessity; ethical restraint (dharma) becomes hardest precisely when losses are greatest, yet that is when it is most needed.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that despite the Kaurava forces being reduced to a small remainder and despite the fall of the ‘sūtaputra’ (commonly Karna) and other leading warriors (described as ‘tiger among men’ along with his son), the carnage of battle still did not calm down.