Shloka 86
जयद्रथवधः — The Slaying of Jayadratha
Sunset Vow and Curse-Condition
पत्त्यश्वरथनागौघै: पतितैर्विषमीकृताम् । “देखो, पाण्डवप्रवर किरीटधारी अर्जुन जिस मार्गसे गये हैं, वहाँकी भूमि धराशायी हुए पैदलों, घोड़ों, रथों और हाथियोंके समुदायसे विषम एवं दुर्लड्घ्य हो गयी है
pattyaśvarathanāgaughaiḥ patitair viṣamīkṛtām |
Sañjaya said: “Look—where Arjuna, the foremost of the Pāṇḍavas, the diadem-wearing hero, has passed, the ground has been made uneven and hard to cross, choked with heaps of fallen foot-soldiers, horses, chariots, and elephants.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the tangible cost of war: even a righteous warrior’s advance leaves devastation that obstructs the very earth. It invites reflection on kṣatriya-duty carried out in battle alongside the ethical weight of destruction and suffering that inevitably follows.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna’s passage through the battlefield is marked by massive casualties—fallen soldiers, horses, chariots, and elephants—so densely strewn that the route has become uneven and difficult to traverse.