Mahabharata 7.175.57 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 175, Shloka 57
रात्रौ हि राक्षसा भूयो भवन्त्यमितविक्रमा: । बलवन्त: सुदुर्धर्षा: शूरा विक्रान्तचारिण:
rātrau hi rākṣasā bhūyo bhavanty amitavikramāḥ | balavantaḥ sudurdharṣāḥ śūrā vikrāntacāriṇaḥ ||
วายุเทพตรัสว่า “สำหรับพวกรากษส ราตรีคือเวลาที่ฤทธิ์เดชยิ่งพองทวีขึ้นอีก ครั้นแล้วพวกเขาจะยิ่งทรงพลัง ยากจะเข้าตี เป็นวีรชน และเที่ยวไปด้วยความห้าวหาญอันกล้าแข็ง”
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a strategic-ethical caution: circumstances such as time (night) can amplify an opponent’s natural advantages. Wise conduct in war includes recognizing such asymmetries and avoiding reckless engagement when conditions favor adharma-aligned or supernatural forces.
Vāyu-deva warns that rākṣasas become more formidable at night—stronger, harder to defeat, and more aggressively mobile—implying that nighttime confrontation with them is especially dangerous and requires heightened prudence.
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