Shloka 29
अध्याय ९ — धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति राजनित्युपदेशः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Royal Policy to Yudhiṣṭhira
अक्षौहिण्यो महाराज दशाष्टौ च समागता:
akṣauhiṇyo mahārāja daśāṣṭau ca samāgatāḥ |
Sinabi ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: “O Hari, labingwalong akṣauhiṇī—buong mga dibisyong pandigma—ang nagtipon sa digmaang iyon. Ngunit sa loob lamang ng labingwalong araw, ang mga pangunahing kampeon ng mga Kaurava—si Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Kṛpa at iba pa—at ang dakilang-loob na si Karṇa, kasama ng mga pangunahing bayani ng hukbong Pāṇḍava—si Sātyaki, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Bhīmasena, Arjuna, Nakula at Sahadeva—ay naghatid ng pagkalipol sa kanilang lahat.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the vast scale of the Kurukṣetra war and its rapid devastation, implying the fragility of worldly might and the grave ethical cost when conflict overwhelms dharma.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reminds the king that eighteen akṣauhiṇīs gathered for the war, and that the principal warriors on both sides—named here—were instrumental in the near-total annihilation within eighteen days.