Shloka 143
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
प्रत्यूषकाले शिबिरात् प्रतिगन्तुमियेष सः । नृशोणितावसिक्तस्य द्रौणेरासीदसित्सरु:
pratyūṣakāle śibirāt pratigantum iyeṣa saḥ | nṛśoṇitāvasiktasya drauṇer āsīd asitsaruḥ ||
三阇耶说道：拂晓之时，他欲自营中返去。然而德罗那之子的剑已黯然发黑——刃上浸染人血——昭示着昨夜暴行的凄惨余波，也昭示那屠戮所留下、难以洗去的道德污痕。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how acts of extreme violence—especially those associated with night-time slaughter—leave an enduring moral taint. The blood-smeared sword becomes a symbol of adharma and the ethical consequences that follow from transgressive warfare.
At dawn, the figure in question intends to leave/return from the camp, while the narration highlights that Aśvatthāman’s sword is smeared with human blood—pointing to the brutal killings that have just occurred during the night in the Sauptika episode.