Mahabharata 7.32.79 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 32, Shloka 79
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
प्रमोदने श्वापदपक्षिरक्षसां जनक्षये वर्तति तत्र दारुणे । महाबलास्ते कुपिता: परस्परं निषूदयन्त: प्रविचेरुरोजसा
sañjaya uvāca |
pramodane śvāpadapakṣirakṣasāṃ janakṣaye vartati tatra dāruṇe |
mahābalās te kupitāḥ parasparaṃ niṣūdayantaḥ pravicerurojasā ||
Sañjaya sprach: In jenem schrecklichen Gemetzel der Menschen—das Raubtieren, Vögeln und Rākṣasas eine düstere Wonne bereitete—zogen jene gewaltigen Krieger, gegeneinander erzürnt, mit Macht umher und hieben einander nieder. Die Szene zeigt, wie der Krieg, sobald er nicht mehr durch Dharma gezügelt wird, zum Mahl des Todes und zum Zusammenbruch menschlicher Ordnung wird.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical degradation of war: when rage and mutual hatred dominate, human life is reduced to mere 'slaughter,' and the battlefield becomes a place where non-human predators and destructive forces thrive—an implicit warning about adharma and loss of restraint.
Sañjaya describes a horrific phase of the battle where powerful fighters, inflamed with anger, roam the field killing one another. The carnage is so intense that it is portrayed as pleasing to scavengers and rākṣasas who feed on death.
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