Shloka 59
विशब्दैरल्पशब्दैश्व शोणितौघपरिप्लुतै: । गतासुभिरमित्रघ्न विबभौ निचिता मही,शत्रुओंका नाश करनेवाले महाराज! वहाँ पृथ्वीपर कुछ ऐसे लोग गिरे थे, जिनके मुखसे शब्द नहीं निकल पाता था। कुछ ऐसे थे, जो बहुत थोड़ा बोल पाते थे। प्रायः सभी लोग खूनसे लथपथ हो रहे थे और बहुत-से ऐसे शरीर पड़े थे, जो सर्वथा प्राणहीन हो चुके थे। इन सबके द्वारा वहाँकी भूमि मानो चुन दी गयी थी
sañjaya uvāca |
viśabdair alpaśabdaiś ca śoṇitaughapariplutaiḥ |
gatāsubhir amitraghna vibabhau nicitā mahī ||
Sañjaya said: “O slayer of foes, the earth there appeared heaped and strewn with bodies—some fallen silent, some able to utter only faint sounds—most drenched in torrents of blood, and many utterly bereft of life.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the human cost of warfare: beyond victory and strategy lie speechless suffering, dying breaths, and lifeless bodies. It implicitly presses an ethical awareness that even ‘righteous’ conflict (dharma-yuddha) carries grave consequences that must be faced without romanticizing violence.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra what the battlefield looks like: the ground is covered with the dead and the dying—some unable to speak, some barely speaking—many drenched in blood, making the earth appear densely strewn with bodies.