Shloka 30
अध्याय ९ — धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति राजनित्युपदेशः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Royal Policy to Yudhiṣṭhira
अष्टादशाहेन हता: कुरुभिर्यों धपुड़वै: । भीष्मद्रोणकृपाद्यैश्न कर्णेन च महात्मना,“महाराज! उस युद्धमें अठारह अक्षौहिणी सेनाएँ एकत्र हुई थीं; किंतु कौरवपक्षके प्रधान योद्धा भीष्म, द्रोण, कृपाचार्य आदि तथा महामना कर्णने एवं पाण्डवदलके प्रमुख वीर सात्यकि, धृष्टद्युम्न, भीमसेन, अर्जुन, नकुल और सहदेव आदिने अठारह दिनोंमें ही सबका संहार कर डाला”
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
aṣṭādaśāhena hatāḥ kurubhir yodhapūrvaiḥ |
bhīṣma-droṇa-kṛpādyaiś ca karṇena ca mahātmanā ||
ภายในสิบแปดวันเท่านั้น เหล่านักรบฝ่ายกุรุและปาณฑพ—มีภีษมะ โทฺรณะ กฤปะและอื่น ๆ พร้อมทั้งกรรณะผู้มีจิตยิ่งใหญ่—ได้ก่อให้เกิดการสังหารอันน่าสยดสยอง
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the catastrophic speed and totality of destruction in war: even armies led by the greatest heroes can be annihilated quickly. Ethically, it points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring warning that when conflict is fueled by adharma—pride, greed, and refusal to reconcile—its outcome is collective ruin and lasting sorrow.
Vaiśampāyana is recounting the aftermath and remembrance of the Kurukṣetra war during the Āśramavāsika context. He summarizes that within eighteen days the Kuru forces, headed by Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Kṛpa and Karṇa, were slain—an encapsulation of the war’s scale and the fall of its principal champions.