Shloka 46
शल्यपर्व — चतुर्विंशोऽध्यायः | Śalya Parva, Chapter 24: Disruption of Kaurava Formations and the Elephant Encirclement
“जनार्दन! उनकी वह बात यथार्थ हो गयी; क्योंकि दुर्योधनके कारण बहुत-से राजा नष्ट हो गये ।। सोउ्द्य सर्वान् रणे योधान् निहनिष्यामि माधव । क्षत्रियेषु हतेष्वाशु शून्ये च शिबिरे कृते
janārdana! tasya sā vāk yathārthābhavat; yato duryodhanakāraṇāt bahavo rājānaḥ naṣṭāḥ. so ’dya sarvān raṇe yodhān nihaniṣyāmi mādhava; kṣatriyeṣu hateṣv āśu śūnye ca śibire kṛte.
“O Janārdana, napatunayang totoo ang kanilang sinabi; sapagkat dahil kay Duryodhana, maraming hari ang napuksa. Kaya ngayong araw, O Mādhava, papatayin ko ang lahat ng mandirigma sa labanan; at kapag ang mga Kṣatriya ay mabilis na nalipol at ang kampo’y naging hungkag, mahahayag ang bunga ng kasalanang iyon.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral causality in war: collective destruction is traced to a leader’s adharma (here, Duryodhana’s role), and events unfold so that earlier words or warnings become ‘true’ in lived reality. It frames battlefield slaughter not as random, but as the ripening of choices and responsibility.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra, addressing Krishna by epithets (Janardana, Madhava), that a prior statement has come true: many kings have perished because of Duryodhana. He then describes the resolve to annihilate the warriors in battle, leading to the camp becoming empty—signaling the nearing end of the conflict.