Shloka 32
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
शतघ्नीनां सचक्राणां भुजानां चोरुभि: सह । कण्ठसूत्राज़दानां च केयूराणां च मारिष
śataghnīnāṃ sacakrāṇāṃ bhujānāṃ corubhiḥ saha | kaṇṭhasūtrāz-dānāṃ ca keyūrāṇāṃ ca māriṣa
Sañjaya sprach: „O Ehrwürdiger, da waren auch śataghnīs und Radmaschinen, und abgehauene Arme samt Schenkeln—dazu Halsketten und Armreife.“ So war das Schlachtfeld übersät mit zerbrochenem Schmuck und zerstückelten Gliedern der Krieger, ein Zeugnis der furchtbaren Kosten dieses unrechten Gemetzels.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim reality of war: not only bodies but also the symbols of status and identity (ornaments) are reduced to debris. It implicitly warns that violence strips away human dignity and reveals the impermanence of worldly distinctions.
Sanjaya is describing the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, listing weapons and the scattered remains of warriors—severed limbs and fallen ornaments—emphasizing the scale and horror of the fighting in the Karṇa Parva.