Shloka 553
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
पाण्डूनां सह पज्चालैद्रोणपुत्र: प्रतापवान् । इस प्रकार विचार करके प्रतापी द्रोणपुत्रने रातको सोते समय पांचालोंसहित पाण्डवोंको मार डालनेका निश्चय किया
pāṇḍūnāṃ saha pāñcālaiḥ droṇaputraḥ pratāpavān | iti prakāraṃ vicārya pratāpī droṇaputro rātrau sote samaye pāñcālāṃs saha pāṇḍavān mārayituṃ niścayaṃ cakāra |
三阇耶说道：“如此思量之后，英勇的德罗那之子便下定决心：要在夜里趁其熟睡之时，将般度五子连同旁遮罗人一并诛杀。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how reflection can be bent toward destructive resolve: choosing to kill sleeping foes signals a collapse of warrior-ethics and dharma, showing how vengeance and despair can drive one into morally darker forms of violence.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā (Droṇa’s son), after deliberation, decides to attack at night and kill the Pāṇḍavas along with the Pāñcālas while they are asleep—setting up the infamous nocturnal slaughter central to the Sauptika Parva.