Shloka 35
Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)
हस्तिभिर्मुदिता: केचित् क्षुण्णाश्षान्ये तुरंगमै: । रथनेमिनिकृत्ताश्च निकृत्ताश्न परश्वथै:,कुछ मनुष्य बाणोंसे विदीर्ण होकर पड़े थे, कितने ही फरसोंसे छिन्न-भिन्न हो रहे थे, कितनोंको हाथियोंने मसल डाला था, कितने ही घोड़ोंकी टापसे कुचल गये थे, कितनोंके शरीर रथके पहियोंसे कट गये थे और कितने ही कूबरोंसे काट डाले गये थे
hastibhir muditāḥ kecit kṣuṇṇāś cānye turaṅgamaiḥ | rathanemi-nikṛttāś ca nikṛttāś ca paraśvadhaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Some warriors lay crushed down by elephants; others were trampled by swift horses. Some had their bodies sliced by the rims of chariot-wheels, and others were hewn apart by axes. The battlefield thus displayed the grim, indiscriminate force of war, where strength and weapons alike reduce living beings to ruin, underscoring the heavy moral cost that accompanies kṣatriya conflict even when fought under the banner of duty.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the brutal, leveling nature of war: regardless of valor or status, bodies are crushed and cut by the machinery of battle. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical horizon, such imagery functions as a reminder that even ‘dharma-yuddha’ carries grave human cost, urging sobriety, restraint, and accountability in the exercise of power.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the carnage on the battlefield: some fighters are crushed by elephants, others trampled by horses, others cut by chariot-wheel rims, and others hacked by axes. It is a panoramic description of the chaos and lethality of the ongoing combat in Bhīṣma Parva.