Shloka 22
Adhyāya 108 — Nimitta-darśana and Drona’s counsel amid Arjuna’s advance (निमित्तदर्शनं द्रोणोपदेशश्च)
ससादिनो हया राजंस्तत्र तत्र निषूदिता:
sasādino hayā rājan tatra tatra niṣūditāḥ
ससादिनो हया राजंस्तत्र तत्र निषूदिताः।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the harsh reality of war: even the instruments and agents of combat—horses and their riders—are swiftly destroyed. It implicitly cautions that martial conflict, though framed within kṣatriya duty, brings pervasive suffering and loss, reminding the listener of life’s fragility amid violence.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, in the ongoing Kurukṣetra battle, horses together with their mounted warriors are being slain in many different places, conveying the scale and intensity of the fighting.