Mahabharata 7.189.26 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 189, Shloka 26
पृथिव्यां राजवंश्यानामुत्थिते महति क्षये । नततत्र कर्ण द्रोणं वा नार्जुनं न युधिषछ्तिरम्
pṛthivyāṃ rājavaṃśyānām utthite mahati kṣaye | na tatra karṇa-droṇaṃ vā nārjunaṃ na yudhiṣṭhiram ||
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—രാജാവേ! ഭൂമിയിൽ രാജവംശങ്ങളുടെ മഹാനാശം ഉയർന്നപ്പോൾ അവിടെ കർണ്ണനെയും ദ്രോണനെയും, അർജുനനെയും യുദ്ധിഷ്ഠിരനെയും—ആരെയും കാണാനായില്ല।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic, leveling nature of war: even the greatest heroes and exemplars of martial and moral stature are absent in the wake of a ‘great destruction’ of royal houses, highlighting impermanence and the grave ethical cost of dynastic conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra about a moment characterized by immense slaughter among royal lineages; in that scene, prominent figures—Karṇa, Droṇa, Arjuna, and Yudhiṣṭhira—are stated to be ‘not there,’ implying their absence from that particular situation or field at that time amid the broader devastation.
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