Shloka 21
पादानां भूषणानां च केयूराणां च संघश: । राशयस्तत्र दृश्यन्ते भीष्मभीमसमागमे,भारत! भीष्म और भीमके उस संग्राममें मरे हुए वाहनों, कटे हुए मस्तकों, धनुषों, गदाओं, परिघों, हाथों, जाँघों, पैरों, आभूषणों तथा बाजूबन्द आदिके ढेर-के-ढेर दिखायी दे रहे थे
pādānāṁ bhūṣaṇānāṁ ca keyūrāṇāṁ ca saṁghaśaḥ | rāśayas tatra dṛśyante bhīṣma-bhīma-samāgame, bhārata! |
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, in that fierce encounter between Bhīṣma and Bhīma, heaps upon heaps could be seen—severed feet and limbs, ornaments and armlets—mute witnesses to the terrible cost of wrath and prowess on the battlefield.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim reality of war: even heroic clashes produce indiscriminate devastation. It implicitly invites reflection on dharma and restraint—how martial duty (kṣatriya-dharma) can still entail profound human cost, visible in the battlefield’s scattered limbs and ornaments.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that during the direct clash between Bhīṣma and Bhīma, the battlefield was strewn with piles of severed feet and other remains, along with ornaments and armlets—vivid imagery emphasizing the intensity of their combat.