Shloka 19
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
हन्ति स्मात्र पिता पुत्र रथेनाभ्येत्य संयुगे
hanti smātra pitā putra rathenābhyetya saṃyuge
सञ्जय उवाच—संयुगे रथेनाभ्येत्य पिता स्म पुत्रं जघान; युद्धवेगेन स्वाभाविकाः स्नेहबन्धाः अपि व्यत्ययमापद्यन्ते, धर्ममर्यादा च परीक्ष्यते।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral rupture caused by war: even the most fundamental relationship—father and son—can be overridden by the compulsions of battle and perceived duty. It invites reflection on dharma under extreme conditions and the ethical cost of violence.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield incident in which a father, advancing in his chariot, attacks and slays his own son amid the fighting, emphasizing the intensity and indiscriminate tragedy of the conflict.