Shloka 40
हतैश्न हन्यमानैश्व निष्टनद्धिश्ष सर्वश:
hataiś ca hanyamānaiś ca niṣṭanadbhiḥ sarvaśaḥ
Sañjaya said: On every side there were cries and groans—arising alike from those already struck down and from those still being cut down—so that the battlefield resounded with suffering in all directions. The line underscores the moral weight of war: victory is inseparable from the pervasive anguish of the slain and the dying.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical reality of warfare: beyond strategy and heroism, war produces universal suffering—heard in the cries of both the dead and the dying—inviting reflection on dharma, responsibility, and the human cost of violence.
Sañjaya, reporting the battle to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, describes the battlefield filled on all sides with wails and groans coming from those already slain and those in the process of being slain, conveying the chaos and anguish of the ongoing combat.