Shloka 17
अध्याय ९ — दुर्योधनस्य अन्त्यावस्था, विलापः, तथा सौप्तिक-प्रतिवृत्तम्
Duryodhana’s Final Condition, Lamentation, and the Night’s Report
उपासत द्विजा: पूर्वमर्थहेतोर्यमी श्वरम् उपासते च तं हाद्य क्रव्यादा मांसहेतव:,पहले बहुत-से ब्राह्मण धनकी प्राप्तिके लिये जिन नरेशके पास बैठे रहते थे, उन्हींके समीप आज मांसके लिये मांसाहारी जन्तु बैठे हुए हैं
upāsata dvijāḥ pūrvam arthahator yamīśvaram | upāsate ca taṃ hādya kravyādā māṃsahetavaḥ ||
ក្រឹបៈបាននិយាយថា៖ «មុននេះ ព្រះព្រាហ្មណ៍ជាច្រើនអង្គតែងអង្គុយបម្រើនៅជិតព្រះមហាក្សត្រនោះ ដើម្បីទទួលទ្រព្យនិងអនុគ្រោះ។ តែថ្ងៃនេះ នៅកន្លែងដដែល សត្វស៊ីសាច់អង្គុយជិតទ្រង់ ដោយចង់បានតែសាច់ប៉ុណ្ណោះ»។
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts two kinds of ‘attendance’ on power—earlier, brahmins seeking wealth and royal favor; now, flesh-eaters seeking meat—highlighting how violence and the collapse of dharma degrade a royal court from a place of patronage and counsel into a site of death and predation.
In the Sauptika Parva’s aftermath of the night massacre, Kṛpa laments the changed condition around the fallen ruler: where learned men once gathered for support and gifts, scavengers and predators now gather, drawn by corpses—an image of the battlefield’s grim reversal of social order.