Shloka 28
शल्यपर्वणि प्रथमाध्यायः — Karṇa-vadha-anantaraṃ Śalya-niyogaḥ, Saṃjayasya Dhṛtarāṣṭra-nivedanam
प्राच्या हता महाराज दाक्षिणात्याश्व सर्वश:ः । उदीच्याश्न हता:ः सर्वे प्रतीच्याक्ष नरोत्तमा:,“महाराज! पूर्वदेशके योद्धा मारे गये, समस्त दाक्षिणात्योंका संहार हो गया तथा उत्तर और पश्चिमके सभी श्रेष्ठ मनुष्य मार डाले गये
prācyā hatā mahārāja dākṣiṇātyāś ca sarvaśaḥ | udīcyāś ca hatāḥ sarve pratīcyāś ca narottamāḥ ||
ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า— “ข้าแต่มหาราช! นักรบแห่งทิศบูรพาถูกสังหาร; ชาวทักษิณก็ถูกทำลายสิ้น ชาวอุดรทั้งหมด และยอดคนแห่งทิศประจิมก็ถูกฆ่าลง”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the comprehensive, direction-spanning ruin caused by war: when conflict is driven by adharma and unchecked violence, it consumes all communities alike, sparing neither the ordinary nor the ‘best of men’ (narottamāḥ).
Vaiśampāyana reports to the king that fighters from every quarter—east, south, north, and west—have been killed, conveying the scale of slaughter and the near-total depletion of warriors across regions.