Shloka 47
Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)
निजघान पिता पुत्र पुत्रश्न॒ पितरं रणे । स्वस्रीयो मातुलं चापि स्वस्रीयं चापि मातुल:
nijaghāna pitā putraṁ putraś ca pitaraṁ raṇe | svasrīyo mātulaṁ cāpi svasrīyaṁ cāpi mātulaḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: Dalam keganasan pertempuran, seorang bapa menewaskan anaknya sendiri, dan seorang anak menewaskan bapanya sendiri. Anak saudara sebelah perempuan membunuh bapa saudara sebelah ibu, dan bapa saudara sebelah ibu itu pula membunuh anak saudara tersebut.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical catastrophe of war: when conflict becomes total, even the most sacred familial bonds (father–son, uncle–nephew) are overturned. It implicitly warns that adharma in warfare manifests as the breakdown of natural duties and affections, revealing war’s power to erode dharma at the level of family itself.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene where close relatives, caught on opposing sides, kill one another—father against son, and maternal uncle against sister’s son—emphasizing the ferocity and confusion of the Kurukṣetra war and its grievous human cost.