Shloka 8
Kuru-Sainika-Āśvāsana and Vijayaghoṣaṇa
Reassuring the Kuru Soldiers; Proclaiming Victory
छन्नमायोधन सर्व शरीरैर्गतचेतसाम् | गजाश्वसादिनां तत्र शितबाणात्तजीवितै:
channam āyodhanaṃ sarvaṃ śarīrair gata-cetasām | gajāśva-sādināṃ tatra śita-bāṇātta-jīvitaiḥ ||
قال فايشَمبايانا: في وقتٍ يسير غطّى ساحةَ القتال أجسادُ رجالٍ فقدوا وعيهم. وكانت الأرض هناك مبثوثةً بجثث راكبي الفيلة والفرسان ومن سقطوا من مقاعد العربات، وقد قُطعت حياتهم بضربات السهام الحادّة. وفي تلك اللحظة بدا كأن أرجونا، والقوس في يده، يتحرّك في كل ناحية من الميدان كراقصٍ في ساحة الحرب.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of warfare: extraordinary skill and victory are inseparable from widespread suffering and death. It implicitly invites reflection on kṣatriya-dharma—martial duty performed with resolve—while not hiding the tragic cost borne by living beings on the battlefield.
The narrator describes the battlefield after intense fighting: it is blanketed with unconscious bodies and corpses of mounted warriors and those fallen from chariots, killed by sharp arrows. Arjuna’s rapid, all-pervading movement with bow in hand is portrayed as if he were dancing across the field.