Shloka 973
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
नाजानन् पितर:ः पुत्रान् भ्रातृन् भ्रातर एव च । वह घोर अन्धकार फैल जानेपर वहाँ सब लोगोंपर मोह छा गया। उस समय पिता पुत्रोंकी और भाई भाइयोंको नहीं पहचान पाते थे
nājānan pitaraḥ putrān bhrātṝn bhrātara eva ca |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Sa kakila-kilabot na dilim na iyon, lumaganap ang pagkalito sa lahat. Hindi makilala ng mga ama ang kanilang mga anak na lalaki, at hindi rin makilala ng magkakapatid ang sarili nilang kapatid—sapagkat lubos na nalunod ang isip sa sindak at kaguluhan ng gabi.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme violence and fear generate moha (delusion), collapsing ordinary moral and social recognition—father/son and brother/brother—showing war’s power to erase discernment and humane bonds.
During the night’s dreadful darkness in the Sauptika episode, panic and confusion spread so widely that people cannot identify even close relatives, intensifying the horror of the nocturnal slaughter and chaos.