Shloka 19
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
अतिप्रवृत्ते युद्धे च छिद्यमानेषु मर्मसु । धावमानेषु योधेषु जयगृद्धिषु मारिष
sañjaya uvāca | atipravṛtte yuddhe ca chidyamāneṣu marmasu | dhāvamāneṣu yodheṣu jayagṛddhiṣu māriṣa ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O Ehrwürdiger, als die Schlacht maßlos zügellos wurde – als man die Lebenspunkte schnitt und durchbohrte und die nach Sieg gierenden Krieger hin und her stürmten –, da überschritt das Kämpfen die Grenzen des Schicklichen und wurde zu einem erbarmungslosen Gemetzel.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war, once it exceeds restraint (maryādā), becomes ethically corrosive: the pursuit of victory (jaya-gṛddhi) leads to attacks on vital points (marma), turning combat into indiscriminate destruction and signaling a collapse of dharmic limits.
Sañjaya reports to the blind king (addressed as māriṣa) that the battle has intensified into a chaotic melee: warriors are rushing in all directions, striking at vulnerable vital spots, driven by the desire to win.