Shloka 133
निशाचराणां सत्त्वानां रात्रि: सा हर्षवर्धिनी । आसीजक्नरगजाश्चानां रौद्री क्षयकरी भूशम्,वह भयानक रात्रि निशाचर प्राणियोंका हर्ष बढ़ानेवाली थी और मनुष्यों, घोड़ों तथा हाथियोंके लिये अत्यन्त विनाशकारिणी सिद्ध हुई
niśācarāṇāṃ sattvānāṃ rātriḥ sā harṣavardhinī | āsīj jananara-gajāśvānāṃ raudrī kṣayakarī bhṛśam ||
Sañjaya said: That night, which delighted the nocturnal beings, became a night of terror—fierce and utterly destructive—for men, horses, and elephants. In the moral shadow of war, the same darkness that empowers one kind of life becomes the instrument of ruin for another.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral inversion of war: the same night that becomes a source of strength and joy for predatory or nocturnal forces turns into catastrophic suffering for others. It underscores how adharma-driven violence thrives in darkness and how circumstances can empower destructive agents while devastating the vulnerable.
Sañjaya describes the ominous night during the Sauptika events: it favors the night-roaming beings (implying attackers moving under cover of darkness) and proves fiercely ruinous for the human camp and its animals—men, horses, and elephants—setting the tone for the nocturnal slaughter.