Shloka 56
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
धर्म्ये धर्मात्मना युद्धे निहतो धर्मसूनुना
dharmye dharmātmanā yuddhe nihato dharmasūnunā
धर्म्ये धर्मात्मना युद्धे निहतो धर्मसूनुना ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames killing in war as morally intelligible only when the battle is 'dharmya' (aligned with dharma) and when the agent is guided by righteousness; it highlights the Mahābhārata’s insistence that even violence must be evaluated through ethical duty and moral order.
Sañjaya reports that someone has been slain in a battle characterized as righteous, and the slayer is identified as 'Dharmasūnu'—the son of Dharma, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira—emphasizing the ethical framing of the event rather than merely its martial detail.