Shloka 54
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
ततः स नरशार्दूल: प्रतिविन्धयं महाहवे । कुक्षिदेशेडवधीद् राजन् स हतो न्यपतद् भुवि
tataḥ sa naraśārdūlaḥ prativindhyaṁ mahāhave | kukṣideśe 'vadhīd rājan sa hato nyapatad bhuvi ||
Санджая сказал: Тогда Ашваттхама, тигр среди людей, убил Прати-виндхью в великой битве. О царь, поразив его мечом в живот, он лишил его жизни, и сражённый пал на землю.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how vengeance and rage in war can eclipse dharma: the killing is described with stark physicality, pointing to the moral collapse of a night-raid where compassion and the codes of fair combat are cast aside.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Aśvatthāmā, in the course of the Sauptika episode, stabs Prativindhya in the abdomen with a sword, killing him; the slain warrior falls to the ground.