Shloka 36
Ulūpī–Citravāhinī Saṃvāda: Dhanaṃjaya-patana and Prāya-threat
व्यायम्य संयुगे राजा दृष्टवा च पितरं हतम्
Vaiśampāyana uvāca — vyāyamya saṃyuge rājā dṛṣṭvā ca pitaraṃ hatam | rājā babhruvāhanaḥ yuddhasthale mahān vyāyāmaṃ kṛtvā alabhata | sa cārjunabāṇasaṃghātaiḥ pūrvam eva bahuviddhaḥ āsīt | ataḥ pitaraṃ hataṃ dṛṣṭvā sa api yuddhamukhe mūrcchitaḥ papāta, pṛthivīm āliṅgituṃ pravavṛte ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Setelah bersungguh-sungguh dalam pertempuran, dan melihat ayahandanya terbunuh, Raja Babhruvāhana—yang telah bertarung di medan perang dengan segenap daya dan sudah pun parah terluka oleh hujan anak panah Arjuna—rebah pengsan di ambang pertempuran. Dikuasai kejutan dan keletihan, baginda jatuh tidak sedarkan diri lalu memeluk bumi.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical cost of warfare: even when combat follows kṣatriya-dharma, the killing of kin can produce overwhelming remorse and collapse. It implicitly warns that victory in battle does not erase the moral and emotional consequences of violence.
Babhruvāhana has fought strenuously and is already badly wounded by Arjuna’s arrows. When he sees his father slain, he is overcome by shock, faints at the battlefront, falls to the ground, and clings to the earth in grief.