Shloka 16
युद्धकुशल योद्धाओंने बहुत-से शस्त्रोंद्वारा उन्हें अनेक बार घायल कर दिया और वे क्षत-विक्षत हो बारंबार विचित्र मण्डलाकार गतिसे विचरण करते रहे ।। हतानां वाजिनागानां रथानां च नरै: सह । उपरिष्टादतिक्रान्ता: शैलाभानां सहस्रश:,रणभूमिमें सहस्रों पर्वताकार हाथी, घोड़े, रथ और पैदल मनुष्य मरे पड़े थे। उन सबको अर्जुनके घोड़े ऊपर-ही-ऊपर लाँघ जाते थे
yuddhakuśalair yoddhaiḥ bahubhiḥ śastrair enam anekadhā kṣatam akurvan; sa kṣata-vikṣataḥ punar punar vicitra-maṇḍalākāra-gatyā raṇe vicacāra. hatānāṁ vājīnām gajānāṁ rathānāṁ ca naraiḥ saha, upariṣṭād atikrāntāḥ śailābhānāṁ sahasraśaḥ.
Sañjaya said: Skilled warriors struck him again and again with many weapons, wounding him repeatedly. Torn and mangled, he kept moving through the battlefield in strange, circling patterns. All around lay thousands of slain—horses, elephants like mountains, chariots, and foot-soldiers with their men. Over those heaps Arjuna’s horses leapt, passing above them as the fight raged on.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical weight of war: even when martial skill succeeds, it unfolds amid overwhelming destruction of humans and animals. It implicitly invites reflection on kṣatriya-duty performed in battle and the tragic, irreversible cost that accompanies victory and prowess.
Sañjaya describes a fierce moment where a warrior is repeatedly wounded and moves in circling patterns on the battlefield. The ground is strewn with thousands of dead horses, elephants, chariots, and soldiers, and Arjuna’s horses are depicted leaping over these fallen bodies as the combat continues.