Shloka 156
अर्धरात्रि: समाजज्ञे निद्रान्धानां विशेषत: । वहाँ बाणोंकी चोट सहते और विशेषत: क्षत-विक्षत होते हुए निद्रान्ध सैनिकोंकी आधी रात बीत गयी
ardharātriḥ samājajñe nidrāndhānāṁ viśeṣataḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—अर्धरात्रे समाज्ञे विशेषतो निद्रान्धानां, बाणाघातं सहमानानां क्षतविक्षतानां च सैनिकानां सा रात्रिरर्धं व्यतीता।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension of warfare: when violence continues even against sleep-dazed, defenseless soldiers, it raises questions of restraint (dharma-yuddha) versus expediency, and shows how war erodes ordinary ethical boundaries.
Sañjaya describes the passage of midnight during a violent episode in which soldiers, overcome by sleep, are struck by arrows and become badly wounded—emphasizing the vulnerability of the camp at night and the brutality of the assault.