Shloka 39
Adhyāya 18 — Sequential Duels and Formation Pressure
Ulūka–Yuyutsu; Śakuni–Sutasoma; Kṛpa–Dhṛṣṭadyumna; Kṛtavarmā–Śikhaṇḍin
बाहुभिश्वन्दनादिग्धै: साड़दै: शुभभूषणै: । सतलन्रै: सकेयूरैभाति भारत मेदिनी,“भारत! बाजूबंद और सुन्दर आभूषणोंसे विभूषित, चन्दनसे चर्चित, दस्ताने और केयूरोंसे सुशोभित कटी भुजाओंद्वारा रणभूमिकी अद्भुत शोभा हो रही है
bāhubhiś candanādigdhaiḥ sāṅgadaiḥ śubhabhūṣaṇaiḥ | satalanraiḥ sakeyūraiḥ bhāti bhārata medinī ||
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, the earth—this battlefield—shines with a strange splendor, crowded with severed arms: arms smeared with sandal-paste, adorned with armlets and auspicious ornaments, still bearing gloves and keyūras. Thus the very ground is made radiant by the trappings of warriors, revealing the grim irony of war where beauty and status become mere debris.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the impermanence of worldly splendor: ornaments, perfumes, and marks of status cannot protect life in war, and what once signified honor becomes a grim spectacle on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the horrific scene of the battle: the ground appears ‘splendid’ only because it is strewn with severed, ornamented arms of fallen warriors, highlighting the scale and brutality of the fighting.