Shloka 81
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
जो लोग नींदके कारण अंधे और अचेत-से हो रहे थे, वे उसके शब्दसे चौंककर उछल पड़े; किंतु पुन: भयसे व्याकुल हो जहाँ-तहाँ छिप गये
ye janā nidrā-kāraṇād andhā iva acetasaḥ prāyaḥ bhavanti sma, te tasya śabdena sahasā pratibuddhā utplutya samutthitāḥ; punaś ca bhayākulā yatra-tatra nilīyante sma.
三阇耶说道：那些人因睡意而昏沉，几近失觉，被那声响猛然惊醒，惊惶跃起；然而恐惧再度攫住他们，他们便四散奔逃，能藏之处皆匿身其中。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and psychological collapse that accompanies nocturnal violence: when people are attacked in vulnerability, fear overwhelms discernment, and survival instinct replaces courage and order—an implicit critique of terror-driven warfare.
In the Sauptika episode, a sudden sound (from the attackers’ action) startles men who were half-unconscious with sleep; they jump up, then, gripped by fear, disperse and hide wherever possible.