Shloka 32
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
मर्मास्थिभिरगाधां च केशशैवलशाद्धलाम् । शिरोबाहूपलतटां रुग्णक्रोडास्थिसंकटाम्
marmāsthibhir agādhāṃ ca keśaśaivalśāḍḍhalām | śirobāhūpalataṭāṃ rugṇakroḍāsthi-saṅkaṭām ||
Sañjaya said: “It was like a dreadful river made unfathomable by heaps of vital organs and bones; its surface choked with hair like water-weeds and matted scum. Its banks were strewn with boulders of severed heads and arms, and its bed was cramped and jagged with shattered ribs and bones.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and existential cost of war: even when fought under claims of dharma, battle produces overwhelming suffering and dehumanizing devastation, prompting reflection on restraint, responsibility, and the tragic consequences of hatred.
Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, depicts the battlefield as a horrific, river-like landscape—unfordable with organs and bones, clogged with hair, and bordered by severed heads and arms—intensifying the sense of chaos and carnage.