Shloka 59
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
विशब्दैरल्पशब्दैश्व शोणितौघपरिप्लुतै: । गतासुभिरमित्रघ्न विबभौ निचिता मही
sañjaya uvāca |
viśabdair alpaśabdaiś ca śoṇitaughapariplutaiḥ |
gatāsubhir amitraghna vibabhau nicitā mahī ||
قال سانجيا: «يا قاتلَ الأعداء، بدتِ الأرضُ هناك كأنها مُكدَّسةٌ ومُبعثرةٌ بالأجساد؛ فمنهم من سقط صامتًا لا يقدر على إخراج صوت، ومنهم من لا ينطق إلا همسًا خافتًا؛ وأكثرهم مغمورٌ بسيول الدم، وكثيرٌ من الأجساد قد خلا من الحياة خلوًّا تامًّا.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the human cost of warfare: beyond victory and strategy lie speechless suffering, dying breaths, and lifeless bodies. It implicitly presses an ethical awareness that even ‘righteous’ conflict (dharma-yuddha) carries grave consequences that must be faced without romanticizing violence.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra what the battlefield looks like: the ground is covered with the dead and the dying—some unable to speak, some barely speaking—many drenched in blood, making the earth appear densely strewn with bodies.