Shloka 6
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
नामृष्यन्त महेष्वासा: क्रोधामर्षवशं गता: । राज्ञो वधेन संतप्ता मुहूर्त समवस्थिता:
nāmṛṣyanta maheṣvāsāḥ krodhāmarṣavaśaṁ gatāḥ | rājño vadheṇa santaptā muhūrtaṁ samavasthitāḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—नामृष्यन्त महेष्वासाः क्रोधामर्षवशं गताः। राज्ञो वधेन सन्तप्ताः मुहूर्तं समवस्थिताः॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how krodha (anger) and amarṣa (humiliated pride) can seize even heroic figures, turning grief into a combustible motive for retaliation. It implicitly warns that when sorrow is ruled by ego and rage, it becomes a seedbed for ethically disastrous action.
After their king is slain, the remaining great archers are unable to bear the situation. Overcome by anger and resentment, they stand silently for a muhurta, inwardly burning—an ominous pause that precedes the night-time events of the Sauptika Parva.