Shloka 28
गदायुद्ध-समारम्भः
Commencement of the Mace-Duel Proceedings
अहतांस्तु महाबाहो शृणु मे तत्र माधव
ahatāṁs tu mahābāho śṛṇu me tatra mādhava | mahābāhu mādhava! ye tatra na hatāḥ, teṣāṁ nāmāni api mattaḥ śṛṇu | duryodhanasya senāyāṁ kṛpācāryaḥ kṛtavarmā ca parākramī droṇaputra aśvatthāmā—ete śatrudalamarḍanāḥ traya eva vīrāḥ śeṣāḥ ||
Nārada nói: “Hỡi Mādhava cánh tay hùng mạnh, hãy nghe ta kể về những kẻ đã không bị giết tại đó. Hãy nghe cả tên họ từ ta. Trong đạo quân của Duryodhana, chỉ còn lại ba dũng sĩ—Kṛpācārya, Kṛtavarmā và Aśvatthāmā, người con dũng mãnh của Droṇa—những kẻ lừng danh vì nghiền nát hàng ngũ quân thù.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the stark moral and existential residue of war: after vast destruction, only a few remain, and their survival becomes ethically weighty because what they choose next can either deepen violence or restore restraint. It highlights how outcomes of conflict are not only about victory but about the character and responsibility of those left standing.
Nārada informs Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava) about the warriors who were not killed in the great battle. He names the three remaining champions on Duryodhana’s side—Kṛpa, Kṛtavarmā, and Aśvatthāmā—marking the near-total collapse of the Kaurava host and setting the stage for the consequences driven by these survivors.