Shloka 56
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
सुतसोमस्य सासिं त॑ बाहुं छित्त्वा नरर्षभ । पुनरप्याहनत् पाश्वें स भिन्नहृदयो5पतत्
Sutasomasya sāsiṃ taṃ bāhuṃ chittvā nararṣabha | punar apy āhanat pārśve sa bhinnahṛdayo 'patat ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “O toro sa mga tao! Matapos putulin ni Aśvatthāman ang bisig ni Sutasoma kasama ang tabak, muli niya itong hinampas sa tagiliran. Napunit ang dibdib at bahagi ng puso, at si Sutasoma’y bumagsak sa lupa.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare, when stripped of restraint and dharma, becomes mere butchery; it implicitly contrasts regulated kṣatriya combat with the moral collapse of a nocturnal slaughter.
Sañjaya narrates Aśvatthāman’s attack: he severs Sutasoma’s arm along with his sword and then strikes his side, causing a fatal rupture in the chest/heart-region, and Sutasoma collapses.