Shloka 186
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
नदन्तं विस्फुरन्तं च पशुमारममारयत् । राजन! उसने पैरसे उसकी छाती और गला दोनोंको दबा दिया और उसे पशुकी तरह मारना आरम्भ किया। वह बेचारा चीखता और छटपटाता रह गया
nadantaṃ visphurantaṃ ca paśum āramamārayat | rājan! asne pādaiḥ tasya chātīṃ ca galaṃ ca ubhayaṃ pīḍayitvā taṃ paśuvat hantum ārabdhavān; sa tu dīnaḥ krośan vikṣipya caiva vyathitaḥ
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Kahit siya’y umuungal at nangingisay, pinatay pa rin siya na parang hayop. O Hari, idiniin niya ng mga paa ang dibdib at lalamunan ng lalaki, at sinimulan siyang patayin na gaya ng pagpatay sa isang hayop. Ang kawawang iyon ay nakasigaw lamang at nagpagulong-gulong sa hapdi.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, when dharma and self-restraint collapse in war’s aftermath, violence becomes dehumanizing—treating a person ‘like an animal’—and thus signals an ethical descent (adharma) rather than heroic conduct.
Sanjaya describes a brutal killing: the victim cries and convulses while the attacker pins him down by pressing on his chest and throat with his feet and kills him in a beast-like manner, reporting this to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra.