एतस्मात् कारणाद् घोरो वर्तते स्वजनक्षय: । दैवाद् वा पुरुषव्याप्र तव चापनयान्नूप,पुरुषसिंह! नरेश्वर! इस कारणसे अथवा दैवकी प्रेरणासे या आपके ही अन्यायसे होनेवाले इस युद्धमें स्वजनोंका घोर संहार हो रहा है
etasmāt kāraṇād ghoro vartate svajanakṣayaḥ | daivād vā puruṣavyāghra tava cāpanayān nṛpa puruṣasiṁha nareśvara |
Sañjaya berkata: “Atas sebab inilah berlakunya pembinasaan yang mengerikan terhadap kaum kerabat sendiri—sama ada kerana paksaan takdir, wahai harimau di antara manusia, ataupun kerana jalan yang zalim daripada tuanku sendiri, wahai raja, wahai singa di antara manusia, wahai penguasa manusia.”
संजय उवाच
The verse frames the catastrophe of war as arising either from daiva (fate) or from human apānaya (wrongful conduct), pressing the ethical point that rulers cannot evade responsibility by appealing to destiny when their own deviation from dharma contributes to mass harm.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a horrific slaughter of their own relatives is unfolding in the war, and he pointedly suggests two possible causes—fate’s drive or the king’s own unjust course—thereby intensifying Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s moral accountability for the conflict.