Shloka 39
सायुधा: सगदाश्रैव सखड््गा: सपरकश्वधा: । सप्रासकवचाश्नान्ये नरा: सुप्ता: पृथक् पृथक्,कुछ लोग घोड़ोंकी पीठोंपर, दूसरे रथोंकी बैठकोंमें, कुछ अन्य योद्धा हाथियोंपर तथा दूसरे बहुत-से सैनिक पृथ्वीपर ही सो रहे। कुछ लोग सभी प्रकारके आयुध लिये हुए थे। किन्हींके हाथोंमें गदाएँ थीं। कुछ लोग तलवार और फरसे लिये हुए थे तथा दूसरे बहुत-से मनुष्य प्रास और कवचसे सुशोभित थे। वे सभी अलग-अलग सो रहे थे
sāyudhāḥ sagadāś caiva sakhadgāḥ saparaśvadhāḥ | saprāsakavacāś cānye narāḥ suptāḥ pṛthak pṛthak ||
Sañjaya said: Some men lay asleep with their weapons at hand—some with maces, others with swords and battle-axes; and still others, adorned with spears and armor. Thus, in that war-camp, the warriors slept scattered apart, each in his own place—an image of an army outwardly prepared for violence, yet inwardly vulnerable in the unguarded state of sleep.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid full martial preparedness—weapons and armor—the human condition remains fragile: sleep levels distinctions and exposes vulnerability. The verse underscores the ethical tension of war, where readiness for violence coexists with the helplessness of ordinary bodily needs.
Sañjaya reports the scene in the battlefield camp: warriors are lying asleep in scattered places, still holding or equipped with various weapons and armor. The description sets a night-time atmosphere of dispersed rest within an armed host.