Shloka 8
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
अहं प्रवेक्ष्ये शिबिरं चरिष्यामि च कालवत् । यथा न ककश्रिदपि वा जीवन् मुच्येत मानव:,इति श्रीमहा भारते सौप्तिकपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे पाज्चालादिवधेडष्टमो5ध्याय:
ahaṁ pravekṣye śibiraṁ cariṣyāmi ca kālavat | yathā na kaścid api vā jīvan mucyeta mānavaḥ ||
«Я войду в стан и пройду по нему, словно сама Смерть, так что ни один человек там — никто вообще — не уйдёт живым».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral peril of letting wrath and vengeance override restraint: the speaker’s intent is not victory in fair combat but annihilation, invoking Kāla (Death) as a model. It frames the Sauptika episode as ethically charged—where the boundary between righteous warfare and adharma is strained by the choice of a night attack and the aim of leaving no survivors.
Sañjaya reports a resolve to enter the enemy camp at night and move through it like Death, ensuring that no one escapes alive. This sets the tone for the nocturnal slaughter associated with the Sauptika Parva’s account of the raid on the camp.