Shloka 39
धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)
अलम्बुषो महाशूरो राक्षसश्वाप्यलायुध: । आर्ष्यशूड्ग्शवि निहत: किमन्यद् भागधेयत:,जहाँ शूरवीर अलम्बुष और ऋष्यशुंगपुत्र राक्षस अलायुध मारे गये, वहाँ भाग्यके सिवा और क्या कारण बताया जा सकता है?
Alambuṣo mahāśūro rākṣasaś cāpy Alāyudhaḥ | Ārṣyaśṛṅga-suto nihataḥ kim anyad bhāgadhyeyataḥ ||
మహాశూరుడు అలంబుషుడు, అలాగే ఋష్యశృంగుని కుమారుడైన రాక్షసుడు అలాయుధుడూ హతులయ్యారు—విధి తప్ప మరే కారణం ఏమని చెప్పగలం?
धघतयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring reflection on bhāgadhyeya (one’s allotted destiny): even great warriors fall, and human explanation often yields to the moral-philosophical idea that outcomes in war are shaped by fate and prior karma beyond immediate strategy.
The speaker points to the deaths of notable fighters—Alambuṣa and the rākṣasa Alāyudha (identified as the son of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga)—and interprets their fall as evidence that destiny, rather than any single visible cause, governs the turning of events on the battlefield.