Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 16
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
भुजानां च महाभाग स्कन्धानां च समन्तत: । छत्राणां व्यजनै: सार्थ मुकुटानां च राशय:
bhujānāṁ ca mahābhāga skandhānāṁ ca samantataḥ | chatrāṇāṁ vyajanaiḥ sārthaṁ mukuṭānāṁ ca rāśayaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O noble one, there were heaps all around—of severed arms and shoulders, and also piles of royal umbrellas, together with fly-whisks, and of fallen crowns.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the impermanence of worldly power: crowns, umbrellas, and fly-whisks—symbols of kingship—lie scattered like debris, reminding that status and sovereignty collapse before the reality of death and the consequences of war.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene in vivid detail, noting piles of severed limbs and the fallen emblems of royalty (umbrellas, fly-whisks, crowns), conveying the scale of destruction and the leveling of kings and warriors alike.
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