Shloka 81
तथा पत्तिरथौघाश्र हयाश्ष बहवो रणे | रथिभिननिहता राजंस्तव तेषां च संकुले,राजन्! आपके और पाण्डवोंके सैनिकोंके उस संकुल युद्धमें दोनों पक्षोंके मिले हुए हाथी, घोड़े और पैदल दन्तार हाथियोंद्वारा मारे गये। रथ, घोड़े और हाथियोंको पैदल योद्धाओंने मार गिराया तथा बहुत-से पैदल, रथियोंके समूह और घुड़सवार रथी योद्धाओंके द्वारा मार डाले गये
tathā pattirathaughāś ca hayāś ca bahavo raṇe | rathibhir nihitā rājan tava teṣāṃ ca saṅkule ||
Sañjaya said: “So too, in that confused and intermingled battle, many foot-soldiers, masses of chariots, and numerous horsemen were cut down—on your side as well as on theirs—by chariot-warriors. The fighting had become so entangled that each arm of the army struck down another, and the slaughter spread across both hosts without distinction.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the indiscriminate nature of war: once battle becomes saṅkula (intermingled and confused), destruction spreads across ranks and sides alike. It implicitly warns that violence, when unleashed, rarely remains controlled or morally clean.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that in the thick of the Kurukṣetra fighting, large numbers of infantry, chariot-groups, and horsemen on both the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava sides were slain by chariot-warriors amid a densely mixed melee.