Shloka 132
कर्ण-पाण्डव-संमर्दः — Karṇa and Arjuna’s Intensified Engagement
(आक्रीडमिव रुद्रस्य दक्षयज्ञनिबर्हणे ।) भरतश्रेष्ठ! मनुष्य, घोड़े और हाथियोंके निष्प्राण शरीरोंसे वहाँकी भूमि क्षणभरमें ढक गयी और दक्षयज्ञके संहारकालमें रुद्रकी क्रीड़ाभूमिके समान प्रतीत होने लगी ।। इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि जयद्रथवधपर्वणि भीमकर्णयुद्धे द्वात्रिशदिधिकशततमो<्ध्याय:
sañjaya uvāca |
(ākrīḍam iva rudrasya dakṣayajña-nibarhaṇe |)
bharataśreṣṭha! manuṣya-aśva-gaja-niṣprāṇa-śarīraiḥ tatra bhūmiḥ kṣaṇabhareṇa ācchāditā; dakṣayajña-saṃhāra-kāle rudrasya krīḍābhūmi-samā pratibhāti ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O Bester der Bharatas, in einem einzigen Augenblick war der Boden dort bedeckt von leblosen Körpern von Menschen, Pferden und Elefanten; er glich Rudras eigenem Spielplatz zu der Zeit, als er Dakshas Opfer zerstörte.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic human and animal cost of war: the battlefield becomes so saturated with death that it is likened to a divine scene of annihilation. Ethically, it functions as a warning—when dharma collapses into unchecked violence, the world resembles a cosmic destruction rather than a righteous contest.
Sanjaya reports to the Kuru king that the fighting has become extraordinarily lethal: bodies of men, horses, and elephants quickly blanket the ground. To convey the scale and terror, he compares the scene to Rudra’s destructive ‘playground’ during the legendary ruin of Daksha’s sacrifice.