Shloka 28
Aśvatthāmā’s Buddhi-Doctrine and Nocturnal Incursion Resolve (अश्वत्थाम्नः बुद्धिविचारः सौप्तिकसंकल्पश्च)
अद्य तान् सहितानू सर्वान् धृष्टद्युम्नपुरोगमान्
adya tān sahitānū sarvān dhṛṣṭadyumnapurogāmān
“ਅੱਜ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਸਭ ਨੂੰ—ਧ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਟਦ੍ਯੁਮਨ ਨੂੰ ਅੱਗੇ ਰੱਖ ਕੇ ਜੋ ਇਕੱਠੇ ਹਨ—…”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a collective fate under a single leader, hinting at how war’s consequences fall upon groups as a whole; it invites reflection on responsibility, leadership, and the moral cost of retaliatory violence that follows the breakdown of dharma.
Sañjaya is describing those warriors who were together under Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s leadership; in the Sauptika context, this points toward the group of Pāṇḍava-aligned fighters who will be spoken of in connection with the night-time slaughter in the camp.