Shloka 1463
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
तथैव हत्वा निःशब्दे निश्चक्राम नरर्षभ: । जिस प्रकार रातके समय सबके सो जानेपर शान्त शिविरमें उसने प्रवेश किया था, उसी प्रकार वह नरश्रेष्ठ वीर सबको मारकर कोलाहलशून्य हुए शिविरसे बाहर निकला
tathaiva hatvā niḥśabde niścakrāma nararṣabhaḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—तथैव हत्वा निःशब्दे निश्चक्राम नरर्षभः। यथा रात्रौ सुप्तेषु सर्वेषु शान्तं शिविरं प्रविवेश, तथा सर्वान् हत्वा कोलाहलशून्यात् शिविरान्निर्ययौ।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical darkness of killing by stealth in a sleeping camp: the outward silence after the act contrasts with the inner moral consequence, suggesting that victory gained through adharma leaves a residue of guilt and karmic burden rather than true peace.
Sañjaya describes the attacker leaving the camp after killing its occupants. He exits as quietly as he had entered at night, and the camp is now silent—not because danger has passed, but because life and resistance have been extinguished.