Shloka 33

भीष्मवधाय प्रयाणम् — The Advance toward Bhīṣma and Counter-Engagements

Devanagari script

छिन्नहस्ता विकवचा विदेहाश्न नरोत्तमा: । दृश्यन्ते पतितास्तत्र शशशो5थ सहस्रश:,वहाँ सैकड़ों और हजारों नरश्रेष्ठ धरतीपर पड़े दिखायी देते थे। उनमेंसे कितनोंके हाथ कट गये थे, कितने ही कवचहीन हो रहे थे और बहुतोंके शरीर छिल्न-भिन्न हो गये थे

Transliteration

chinnahastā vikavacā videhāś ca narottamāḥ | dṛśyante patitās tatra śaśaśo ’tha sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: There, in that field of battle, countless men—noble warriors—were seen lying fallen in hundreds and thousands: some with hands severed, some stripped of their armor, and many with bodies torn and mangled. The scene lays bare the moral cost of war, where even the ‘best of men’ are reduced to broken forms, reminding the listener that victory is inseparable from grievous human suffering.

Word by Word

छिन्नहस्ताःhaving cut-off hands

विकवचाःwithout armor

विदेहाःbodiless / deprived of body (i.e., mangled)

नरोत्तमाःbest of men, heroes

दृश्यन्तेare seen / appear

पतिताःfallen

तत्रthere

शशशोऽथin hundreds, and then/also

सहस्रशःin thousands

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

battlefield (Kurukṣetra implied)

armor (kavaca)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the stark human cost of war: even the most eminent warriors become mutilated and lifeless. It implicitly cautions that dharma in conflict is burdened with suffering and that triumph cannot erase the ethical weight of widespread destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra what he ‘sees’ on the battlefield: masses of warriors lying fallen, many dismembered, unarmored, and grievously wounded—an image of the battle’s intensity and devastation.