Shloka 903
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
दुर्मुखं प्रमुखे कृत्वा सततं चित्रयोधिनम् । अब पुनः आपके ही अन्यायसे होनेवाले इस महान् जनसंहारका वृत्तान्त सुनिये। भीमसेनने अबतक सदा विचित्र युद्ध करनेवाले दुर्मुख आदि आपके इकतीस पुत्रोंको मार गिराया है
sañjaya uvāca |
durmukhaṁ pramukhe kṛtvā satataṁ citrayodhinam |
Sañjaya berkata: “Dengan meletakkan Durmukha di barisan hadapan—dia yang sentiasa bertempur dengan helah dan ragam taktik—dengarlah sekali lagi kisah pembantaian besar ini yang timbul daripada ketidakadilan tuanku sendiri. Bhimasena kini telah menumbangkan Durmukha dan, bersamanya, tiga puluh satu orang putera tuanku.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames mass violence as the bitter consequence of adharma: a ruler’s or party’s injustice (anyāya) ripens into collective ruin. Sañjaya’s ethical emphasis is that wrongdoing at the level of policy and character can culminate in irreversible human loss.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīmasena has killed the Kaurava warrior Durmukha and, in the same sweep of events, has brought down thirty-one of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons—presenting it as part of the escalating devastation of the war.