Shloka 4
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
एतैर्नरगजाश्रानां प्रासशक्तिपरश्रवधथैः । सहस्राणि निकृन्तद्धिर्नि:शेषं ते बल॑ कृतम्
etair nara-gajāśvānāṃ prāsa-śakti-paraśvadhaiḥ | sahasrāṇi nikṛntadbhir niḥśeṣaṃ te balaṃ kṛtam ||
Wika ng Sūta: “Sa pamamagitan ng mga sandatang ito—mga sibat, mga pana-sibat, at mga palakol—pinagpapatay nila ang libu-libong mandirigma, pati mga kabayo at mga elepante, at sa gayon ay nilipol ang buong hukbo mo, na walang natira.”
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic moral and human cost of unchecked violence: the annihilation of an army is presented as total and indiscriminate, extending beyond warriors to animals, highlighting how warfare—especially in a ruthless context—erodes ethical restraint and multiplies suffering.
Sūta reports that ‘these’ attackers, using spears, javelins, and axes, have slaughtered thousands of men along with horses and elephants, leaving the addressed party’s forces completely destroyed—an account consistent with the Sauptika Parva’s night-time devastation of the camp.