Shloka 17
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ६६: तुमुलसंग्रामवर्णनम्
The Tumult of Battle Described
तत्र तत्र हतैश्नापि मनुष्यगजवाजिभि:
tatra tatra hataiś cāpi manuṣya-gaja-vājibhiḥ
Sañjaya said: “Here and there, the ground was strewn with the slain as well—men, elephants, and horses—so that every quarter bore the mark of the battle’s ruin.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the indiscriminate cost of war: life is lost across ranks and species alike. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such imagery presses the listener to weigh kṣatriya-duty against the tragic consequences that follow when conflict becomes all-consuming.
Sañjaya is describing the battlefield scene: in many places the field is filled with the dead—humans, elephants, and horses—conveying the scale and chaos of the fighting.