Shloka 8
Kuru-Sainika-Āśvāsana and Vijayaghoṣaṇa
Reassuring the Kuru Soldiers; Proclaiming Victory
छन्नमायोधन सर्व शरीरैर्गतचेतसाम् | गजाश्वसादिनां तत्र शितबाणात्तजीवितै:
channam āyodhanaṃ sarvaṃ śarīrair gata-cetasām | gajāśva-sādināṃ tatra śita-bāṇātta-jīvitaiḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: In kurzer Zeit war das ganze Schlachtfeld von den Körpern bewusstlos gewordener Männer bedeckt. Dort lag der Boden voll von den Leichen der Elefantenreiter, der Reiter zu Pferd und derer, die von den Wagen gestürzt waren, deren Leben durch scharfe Pfeile beendet worden war. In jenem Augenblick schien es, als bewege sich Arjuna, den Bogen in der Hand, überall über das Feld wie in einem Tanz.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of warfare: extraordinary skill and victory are inseparable from widespread suffering and death. It implicitly invites reflection on kṣatriya-dharma—martial duty performed with resolve—while not hiding the tragic cost borne by living beings on the battlefield.
The narrator describes the battlefield after intense fighting: it is blanketed with unconscious bodies and corpses of mounted warriors and those fallen from chariots, killed by sharp arrows. Arjuna’s rapid, all-pervading movement with bow in hand is portrayed as if he were dancing across the field.