Shloka 45
रात्रौ युद्धप्रवृत्तिः — Night Battle Begins; Duryodhana’s Protective Orders for Droṇa
Droṇa-parva 139
शृण्वतस्तव राजेन्द्र कौरवाणां च सर्वश: । विनष्टा: पाण्डवा: कृष्णे शाश्वतं नरकं॑ गता:
śṛṇvatas tava rājendra kauravāṇāṃ ca sarvaśaḥ | vinaṣṭāḥ pāṇḍavāḥ kṛṣṇe śāśvataṃ narakaṃ gatāḥ ||
शृण्वतस्तव राजेन्द्र कौरवाणां च सर्वशः । विनष्टाः पाण्डवाः कृष्णे शाश्वतं नरकं गताः ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield events as carrying ethical and spiritual weight: destruction is not only physical but can be portrayed as leading to dire karmic consequences (symbolized by ‘everlasting hell’). It also highlights how royal audiences may hear reports yet remain implicated in the moral outcome of war.
Sañjaya addresses the king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), stating that as the king and the Kauravas listened, the Pāṇḍavas were completely ruined and—linked with Kṛṣṇa—went to eternal hell. It is a stark, report-like statement intended to convey catastrophic reversal and moral judgment within the war narrative.