Shloka 70
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
ददृशु: कालरात्रिं ते गायमानामवस्थिताम् । नराश्वकुण्जरान् पाशैर्बद्धवा घोरै: प्रतस्थुषीम्
dadṛśuḥ kālarātriṁ te gāyamānām avasthitām | narāśva-kuñjarān pāśair baddhvā ghoraiḥ pratasthuṣīm ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Nakita nila si Kālarātri na nagkatawang-tao, nakatayo roon at umaawit. Sa pamamagitan ng mga nakapanghihilakbot na panali, iginapos niya ang mga tao, mga kabayo, at mga elepante, at saka sila dinala palayo—isang masamang pangitain ng kamatayan at kapahamakan na bumababa sa mga mandirigma sa gabi ng paglipol.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the night massacre as being overshadowed by an impersonal, inexorable force—Kālarātri—suggesting that when violence and adharma peak, death and ruin ‘take possession’ of all ranks (men, horses, elephants alike). It underscores the ethical warning that war’s cruelty ultimately binds everyone in the same noose of suffering and mortality.
In Sañjaya’s report, the warriors perceive a terrifying apparition: Kālarātri personified, singing and standing nearby, binding living beings with dreadful nooses and moving away with them. The vision functions as an omen and poetic depiction of imminent slaughter and the harvesting of lives during the Sauptika night-raid.